Guide to Effective Programs
for Children and Youth

IOWA STRENGTHENING FAMILIES PROGRAM (ISFP)

OVERVIEW

The Iowa Strengthening Families Program (ISFP) is a 7-week-long intervention aimed to reduce substance use among 10- to 14-year-olds and improve the parent-child relationship by teaching various communication, problem-solving, and perspective-taking skills to parents and adolescents. Experimental evaluations compared the ISFP with a second experimental condition, the 5-session Preparing for the Drug Free Years program (PDFY), and a control condition. Results from the evaluations indicate that the ISFP’s positive outcomes for children, including a reduction in aggressive and destructive behavior and delayed initiation into substance use, continued years after the program’s end.

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

Target population: Middle school students

The Iowa Strengthening Families Program (ISFP) aims to teach life skills to 10- to 14-year-olds and improve the parent-child relationship. Participants are given instruction on various communication, problem-solving, and perspective-taking skills. The first hour of program sessions consists of separate parent and adolescent trainings. Among other topics, parents learn about appropriate disciplinary practices, how to manage strong emotions, and how to communicate effectively with their children. The adolescents learn skills for dealing with peer pressure (refusal skills) and other personal and social skills, including management of stress and strong emotions, and problem solving. In the subsequent hour of joint training, family members practice conflict resolution and communication skills, and engage in activities designed to improve family cohesiveness. In the evaluations described below, the ISFP was compared to another intervention, the Preparing for the Drug Free Years program (PDFY), which is designed to reduce adolescent drug use and behavior problems.

EVALUATION(S) OF PROGRAM

Spoth, R., Redmond, C., & Shin, C. (2000). Reducing adolescents' aggressive and hostile behaviors. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 154, 1248-1257.

Evaluated population: 446 families of sixth graders at 22 public schools from low-income areas in Iowa.

Approach: This study examined the impact of the Iowa Strengthening Families Program (ISFP) on aggressive behavior of adolescents four years later. Schools were randomly selected to receive ISFP intervention, Preparing for the Drug Free Years program (PDFY) intervention, or a minimal-contact control. This study compares ISFP with the control group. All eligible families in the schools were recruited for their respective groups. Control group families could enroll in ISFP, but were not recruited. Aggressive and hostile behavior was measured in independent observations, family reports of parent-child interactions, and self-reports of aggressive and destructive behavior towards people and property. Aggressive and hostile behavior was examined in this manner from 6^th to 10^th grade.

Results: The study found a significant reduction in independently observed adolescent aggressive and hostile behaviors in interactions with parents for the intervention group as compared to the control group. Among adolescents, significant findings were limited to mothers. There were also reductions in adolescent reported aggressive and destructive conduct for the intervention group. These differences were also found four years after baseline. By 10^th grade, self reported aggressive and destructive conduct reduction rates ranged from 31.7% to 77%. There were no significant differences for family-reported aggressive behavior in parent-child interactions, perhaps due to a non-uniform benchmark of behavior among family members. Because the majority of the sample was made up of white, two-parent families, a limitation to this study is its possible inability to be generalized to more culturally diverse areas.

Spoth, R., Redmond, C., Shin, C., & Azevedo, K. (2004). Brief family intervention effects on adolescent substance initiation: School-level growth curve analysis 6 years following baseline. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72, 535-542.

Evaluated population: 667 6^th grade students from 33 rural Midwestern schools

Approach: Schools were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: ISFP, Preparing for the Drug Free Years program (PDFY), or a control group. The ISFP program students received weekly training sessions over seven consecutive weeks with each session consisting of a 1-hour training for students and parents separately, followed by a combined 1-hour session. Parents in the PDFY treatment condition had five 2-hour sessions, four without their children and one with, which was the only session students attended. Control group families received four leaflets in the mail describing adolescent development. Data were collected through a written questionnaire. Several measures of substance use were taken, including the alcohol composite use index (ACUI), which consists of four items: lifetime use, lifetime use without parental permission, lifetime drunkenness, and past month use.

Results: Adolescent self-reports of lifetime use of alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana indicated that on average, students in both the ISFP and PDFY groups began using controlled substances at a later age compared with students in the control group. Similarly, looking at the alcohol composite-use measure, the control group reached its maximum growth rate on this scale 13.1 months earlier than the ISFP group reached its maximum. Students in the PDFY comparison group were also found to be slower in reaching the maximum growth rates for tobacco use compared with the control group, but did not differ significantly from the control group in any other areas.

SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION

Link to program curriculum: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/sfp/inside/order.php

References

Spoth, R., Redmond, C., & Shin, C. (2000). Reducing adolescents' aggressive and hostile behaviors. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 154, 1248-1257.

Program also discussed in the following Child Trends publication(s):

Hair, E. C., Jager, J., & Garrett, S. B. (2001). Background for community-level work on social competency in adolescence: Reviewing the literature on contributing factors. Washington, DC: Child Trends.

Program categorized in this guide according to the following:

Program age ranges in the Guide: 12-14

Program components: community/media campaign; parent or family component; school-based

Measured outcomes: behavioral problems; social and emotional health

Program information last updated 3/14/07