Evaluating the Feasibility of the Incredible Years Attentive Parenting Program as Universal Prevention for Racially Diverse Populations

Abstract

Parenting training (PT) can be implemented as a prevention program to effectively address children’s behavioral and psychosocial problems. In the current feasibility study, we implemented the Incredible Years (IY) Attentive Parenting Program as universal/primary prevention in a community mental health setting with racially diverse families. We evaluated the attendance and treatment outcomes in a one-group pre–post design. A total of 152 parents (88% mothers; 81% non-White) participated in the IY Attentive Parenting Program. Parents who completed the program reported a significant decrease in conduct problems and an increase in prosocial behaviors in their children. Minimal differences among race and gender were found in parents’ attendance, parenting stress, and children’s internalizing and externalizing symptoms and prosocial behaviors. However, pretreatment child externalizing behaviors predicted parents’ attendance. The study provides preliminary support for the feasibility of the recently developed IY Attentive Parenting Program as a universal prevention program for behavioral and psychosocial problems in children.