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AbstractPurposeMethodsResultsConclusions\nIMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONEngaging parents in child-focused interventions is considered important for intervention effectiveness but is rarely investigated in behaviour analysis literature.This qualitative study conducted semi-structured interviews with 13 clinicians working with parents in child-focused behavioural interventions in Aotearoa New Zealand. Interpretive description was the overarching methodology for the study, with thematic analysis utilised to analyse data. The study was guided by the research question; ‘how is parent engagement understood by behavioural clinicians?’Three themes were developed to explain the process of parent engagement from the perspective of clinicians: (a) establishing parent context and needs, (b), developing connection and relationship, (c) facilitating behaviour change. These findings suggest that parent engagement is heavily relational and occurs over time.Aligned with parent engagement literature from other allied health fields, this study highlights the relational and dynamic elements of engagement within a child-focused intervention. Behaviour analysts should focus on interpersonal connections with parents at the start of intervention and may benefit from additional training to achieve this.Behavioural clinicians understand parent engagement as heavily informed by relationship and likely to change over time.Attending carefully to parent expectations, values, learning histories, and preferences at the start of intervention will support fostering of parent engagement in child treatments.Behaviour analysts should prioritise building connection with parents before focusing on levels of parent adherence to developed interventions.Behavioural clinicians understand parent engagement as heavily informed by relationship and likely to change over time.Attending carefully to parent expectations, values, learning histories, and preferences at the start of intervention will support fostering of parent engagement in child treatments.Behaviour analysts should prioritise building connection with parents before focusing on levels of parent adherence to developed interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In childhood intervention, parent–therapist collaboration is central to the family‐centred approach. Despite long‐standing discussion in occupational therapy literature, the field faces challenges, including inconsistent terminology and difficulties in translating theory into practice. This paper represents the first part of a comprehensive scoping review study aimed at developing foundational concepts for collaborative practices with parents in occupational therapy for children. Therefore, this paper focusses on mapping existing practices, types, and approaches articulated in the literature. Methods: We searched English‐language sources published worldwide from 1998 to 2022 discussing collaborative practices with parents in occupational therapy for children aged 0–10 with any diagnosis, including multidisciplinary practices. Seven databases were searched. Data from peer‐reviewed indexed literature, theses and dissertations, and book chapters were extracted and analysed through basic numerical and descriptive analyses before being synthesised into similar categories. The Joanna Briggs Institute Manual and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta‐Analysis—extension for Scoping Reviews were used. Results: The scoping review yielded 299 papers. Parent–therapist collaboration was prominent in clinics, family homes, schools, and hospitals, particularly during therapy implementation, goal setting, and planning. Most reported practice types included 'interventions with parent engagement', 'parent‐directed interventions', and 'parent education'. 'Family‐centred', 'occupational‐focussed', and 'client–therapist collaborative' approaches were frequently mentioned. There were inconsistencies in the terms used to describe collaborative practice characteristics. Conclusion: Over the past 24 years, the collaborative practice literature has expanded and evolved, with parent–therapist collaboration observed across various occupational therapy settings. Inconsistencies in this collaboration across different therapeutic stages were revealed, which could impact intervention success and sustainability. Further research is needed to explore parent–therapist collaboration mechanisms within and across stages. This scoping review also underscores the need for a common framework to guide practice and research. PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY: This literature review explores how occupational therapists and parents work together in childhood intervention. Collaboration is essential for understanding and meeting children's needs within their family and community settings. However, occupational therapists and parents face challenges in applying family‐centred practices and using a common language to bridge theory with practice. To address these challenges, we examined 299 papers published between 1998 and 2022 to understand how collaborative practices with parents have been described in the literature. Our review revealed that therapists and parents collaborate across various settings, such as clinics, schools, homes, and hospitals, mainly during therapy sessions, goal setting, and planning interventions. Collaborative practices take different forms. For instance, therapists often encourage parents to actively engage and take the lead in therapy, requiring therapists to recognise and respect parents' priorities and learning preferences. They often develop strategies together to support the child within family routines. While we found several studies on therapist–parent collaboration, the review outlined inconsistencies in how this practice was described and applied, which could affect its success. Therefore, more research is needed to understand the best ways in which collaboration can occur at each stage of therapy. The need for a core guideline for collaborative practice with parents in occupational therapy was also observed. While therapist–parent collaboration is used in occupational therapy for children, there is a clear need to minimise inconsistencies and gaps found in the literature, as well as to ensure a common language to promote intervention quality and success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In occupational therapy for children, collaborative practice with parents is crucial for meaningful family‐centred interventions, yet it remains undefined and inconsistently addressed. This study aimed to establish foundational concepts for collaborative practice with parents in occupational therapy for children in progressing the field with a universal description. Methods: This paper encompasses the second dataset of a larger scoping review and a preliminary validation of findings by an advisory panel. Data were gathered from indexed sources on collaborative practice with parents in occupational therapy for children (ages 0–10) using MedLine, PsychInfo, ERIC, Embase, OTSeeker, Scopus, and ProQuest Central. Data were extracted, charted, and descriptively analysed by paired independent reviewers. The Joanna Briggs Institute Manual and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analysis—extension for Scoping Reviews were used. A draft definition of collaborative practices, developed based on preliminary review findings and an operational definition, was validated by an advisory panel of 13 experienced Australian occupational therapists, whose input was integrated into a final, comprehensive description of collaborative practice. Results: The scoping review encompassed 299 sources, revealing three major components of collaborative practice: 'collaborative practice aims', 'parent–therapist partnership', and 'strategies for collaboration'. The advisory panel endorsed the draft definition, confirmed its professional relevance, and suggested some modifications. Conclusion: The major outcome of this study is an evidence‐based and discipline‐specific preliminary description of collaborative practice with parents in occupational therapy for children. This description provides a common language and foundational concepts for the future development of a collaborative practice framework to guide practice and research. Future studies can explore specific components, exploring their mechanisms and significance. Further expanded validation is required, incorporating the perspectives of a wider community of occupational therapists and families to enhance the description's applicability. PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY: In occupational therapy for children, collaboration between parents and occupational therapists has been long acknowledged as important in the occupational therapy literature. It is an essential shift away from practices led by professionals to a practice that encourages parents to be engaged therapy partners. However, there has been little consistency in terms of a definition or description of collaborative practice and in what parts of therapy collaboration is used. To develop a draft definition of collaborative practice, we extracted relevant information from 299 papers between 1998 and 2022. Then, an advisory panel of 13 experienced Australian occupational therapists validated and enhanced our final description of collaborative practice. The data from the review was grouped into three major components of collaborative practice: 'collaborative practice aims', 'parent–therapist partnership', and 'strategies for collaboration'. The advisory panel confirmed the draft definition and its relevance and suggested some modifications, which were used to refine the description. The major outcome of this study is a preliminary description of collaborative practice with parents in occupational therapy for children that is based on the research evidence. This description provides a common language and foundational concepts for the future development of a collaborative practice framework to guide practice and research. Future studies are needed to explore specific components of collaborative practice, their relevance, and how they operate in practice. Further validation of the collaborative practice description is needed that would incorporate the perspectives of parents, families, and a wider community of occupational therapists to enhance the description's applicability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parents are their children's first teachers and there are long-standing calls for their involvement in child sexual abuse prevention. In this rapid systematic review, we asked the following questions: what rationales are used to justify parental involvement in child-focused child sexual abuse (CSA) prevention programs? what approaches are used for parental engagement in child-focused CSA prevention programs? and what are the facilitators and barriers to parental involvement in child-focused CSA prevention programs? We searched CINAHL, Cochrane, ERIC, Medline, PsycInfo, Scopus, and SocINDEX in May 2021. A total of 57 papers met our inclusion criteria, comprised of 50 empirical studies, and 7 program descriptions. Rationales for parental involvement included monitoring and shaping parental attitudes toward CSA program delivery in schools; reinforcing children's learning at home; promoting parent–child communication about CSA prevention; building parent capacity to respond to child disclosures; and supporting program delivery for preschoolers. Types of parental involvement included the following: communication, learning at home, volunteering, decision-making, and collaboration with the community. Barriers to parent involvement included ineffective program engagement modalities, and parental fears and misconceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the relationship between community broadband access, parent technology use and beliefs, and student academic outcomes in a Southeastern U.S. school district during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. By applying a quantitative exploratory approach and multiple regression analysis, the research revealed that parents' technology beliefs and use were significantly associated with students' standardized Math and ELA scores. While parents' positive beliefs about technology's developmental impact showed an inverse relationship with student performance, greater concerns about familial challenges related to technology were associated with lower scores. The results explored persistent social inequities, whereby students who were identified as Black historically score lower than White-identified students, emphasizing the role and importance of digital equity to mitigate disparities and enhance outcomes. Both the methodology and results encourage researchers, educational leaders, and policymakers to deeply consider the role of parental access to and engagement with digital resources, and how they contribute to shaping student outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parental engagement, characterized by mutual expectations, dialogues about needs, comprehension of communicated messages, and proactive responsiveness, plays a pivotal role in shaping early childhood education outcomes. Collaboration between families and educational institutions is integral within the societal framework where both entities coexist. Recognizing the significance of parental engagement, this study aimed to validate and adapt the “Parent Engagement in Early Childhood Education Survey” to align with the Turkish socio-cultural and linguistic context. The study, conducted in Afyonkarahisar, Türkiye, encompassed seven kindergartens, comprising both private and public institutions. Based on convenience sampling technique, a total of 381 parents of 36–72-month-old children participated, with a predominant presence of females (88.7%). The parents’ ages primarily fell within the range of 31–35 years (40.4%), and a substantial portion held university degrees (47.2%). The confirmed three-factor structure of the adapted survey encompasses knowledge/expectations, trust/communication, and home-based engagement. Importantly, no item modifications were deemed necessary during the adaptation process. Subsequent reliability assessments indicated a commendable internal consistency value for the entire scale (α = .80), reaffirming the instrument’s reliability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies discussed the relationship between parental engagement and different forms of capital, such as cultural or social capital. The current study takes a step further by referring to digital capital. It examines the direct and mediating effects of parents' digital capital on their engagement in their children's learning. The study also compares the differences between parents of low and high socioeconomic statuses regarding the effect of digital capital on their engagement. The study sample included 600 Israeli parents with children in elementary schools who completed an anonymous online questionnaire during the COVID-19 pandemic. Descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling analysis revealed that parents with high socioeconomic status use digital capital more frequently than parents with low socioeconomic status. Further, digital capital was directly related to parental engagement and acted as a mediator between parents' socioeconomic background, social and institutionalized cultural capital, and their engagement in their children's learning, giving an advantage to high-socioeconomic parents. However, the relationships between parental engagement and the types of capital were found to be different for low compared to high socioeconomic parents. The findings emphasize the potential of digital capital, particularly for disadvantaged groups, as a lever for improving parental engagement to benefit children and ultimately contributing toward creating a more equitable society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Parent engagement in child-focused interventions is increasingly recognised as an important aspect of effective intervention delivery. While several fields have an emerging literature around parent engagement, no reviews currently exist which combine findings across allied health literatures. Objective: This review aimed to explore factors relevant to understanding parent engagement in child-focused interventions, as described in qualitative literature across allied health disciplines, toward informing the clinical practice of helping professionals in effectively engaging parents. Methods: A systematised qualitative literature review was carried out, with a comprehensive search of five online databases (CINAHL, Embase, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Scopus) for allied health literature (specifically: behaviour analysis, occupational therapy, psychology, and speech-language therapy) using parent engagement key words. Reference searching and citation tracking steps supported the search. Thematic synthesis was used as the overarching framework and analysis approach. Results: 8824 unique studies were generated in the search. Of the 71 studies which met inclusion criteria, 38 reported qualitative findings and were included in the analysis. Five themes were identified including: societal context, interpersonal context, clinician features, family features, and relationship as engagement. Conclusions: Findings support conceptual explanations of parent engagement as a complex and dynamic process, emphasising the joint contributions of parents and clinicians in developing therapeutic relationships which promote engagement. Across allied health research there are consistency of understandings around parent engagement, supporting the conclusion that clinicians can look to literatures from various helping fields to inform clinical practice around engaging parents in interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Via a research–practice partnership centering community partners' needs and goals in the research design, we examined how parent, infant, and social‐contextual characteristics relate to shared book reading frequency and perceptions of Reach Out and Read (ROR), a national physician‐to‐family program. Background: Shared book reading is associated with higher quality parent–child interactions and enhanced cognitive and socioemotional development. However, only a small percentage of families share books with their infants daily. Understanding factors related to engagement in book sharing is necessary to create developmental messaging that reflects families' experiences. Method: Parents (N = 70) in a southeastern U.S. state were recruited from two participating pediatric clinics and responded to an online survey. Regression analyses examined significant infant, parent, and social‐contextual predictors of shared book reading frequency and perceived ROR value. Results: Findings indicated that parents' insurance, mental health symptoms, and perceptions of the parent‐provider relationship significantly predicted shared book reading frequency. Perceived ROR value was best predicted by parents' mental health symptoms. Implications: Strengthening the parent–provider relationship and talking with families about their needs and experiences with their infants may support clinicians in partnering with families around literacy promotion and early relational health. Conclusion: Results suggest the value of considering socioeconomic status, parental mental health symptoms, and the parent–provider relationship when promoting early literacy and relationship‐building experiences during infancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engagement of parents in interventions for their children has many reported benefits. Despite recent advances in conceptualisations of parent engagement within child development and rehabilitation fields, there are limited understandings of parent engagement from a behaviour analytic account. This study aimed to understand how parents experience engagement in child-focused behaviour analytic interventions in Aotearoa New Zealand. An Interpretive Description study was undertaken, involving 14 semi-structured interviews with a sample of 15 parents who had experienced a child-focused behavioural intervention. Four themes were developed including a) the system as the environment, b) what parents bring, c) what clinicians bring, and d) where engagement happens. Themes are presented using an analogy of a river ecosystem, detailing how each theme comes together into an intervention context, where engagement is negotiated through humble communication, development of working relationships, and responsive approaches to intervention delivery. Findings support behaviour analysts attending to antecedent conditions for parent engagement, in efforts to further effective intervention, rather than prioritising focus on treatment adherence at the outset of intervention delivery. The outcomes of the study closely align with other allied health literatures, offering behaviour analysts insight into parent engagement from related service delivery contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Successful middle schools exhibit effective practices that engage families as valued partners. However, as at-home learning increasingly shifts to digital spaces, parents may have concerns with technology and how their role shifts in digital learning environments. This includes concerns about the balancing act for parents wishing to encourage students' independent learning, while also providing sufficient structure to make sure students are on-task in digital learning environments. Therefore, this article focuses on effective ways parent and family engagement can support students' autonomous learning through meaningful digital homework, cultivating students' self-regulated learning, and encouraging bi-directional communication that will assist parents as their role evolves in supporting students' at-home learning in online environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Fathers contribute to child and family well-being across several domains, and home visiting (HV) programs are an important potential service platform from which to engage fathers and families. To develop insights for improving efforts to engage fathers and mothers in home visiting together, we describe and compare assessment and engagement strategies used by home visitors trained in Dads Matter-HV versus those who were not. Method: This study examines qualitative data collected from 26 home visitors (13 from the intervention group and 13 from the control group) from five agencies in Chicago, IL, who participated in a randomized controlled trial of Dads Matter-HV, an intervention designed to increase fathers' engagement in standard HV programs. Results: As expected, home visitors using Dads Matter-HV described using father-focused assessment and engagement strategies more often than home visitors who were not trained in the intervention. They were also more likely to identify mother-focused assessment and engagement strategies. Conclusions: Home visitors trained in Dads Matter-HV reported more specific assessment and engagement practices with both fathers and mothers. Possible improvements for father assessment and engagement practices in home visiting are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance measurement is meant to help organizations to better understand current practices, processes, outputs, or outcomes. Yet, it is often limited in its use and usefulness, partly because it is not designed with the end user in mind. This article describes a process that integrates participatory design and design thinking methodologies to bring together a multidisciplinary group of systems professionals, researchers, and persons with lived experience to create meaningful child welfare court performance measures. The methods and process used to design the measures are described, including the resulting measures in one domain of measurement. Key lessons were learned throughout this process, including the value of lived experience in design and implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the role of social emotional learning and microsystem supports on the well-being of adolescents studying at the high school level was examined. It has been assumed that microsystem supports and social emotional learning created within the framework of the ecological approach have an important variance in explaining well-being in adolescents. A total of 1110 high school students, 560 male (50.5%) and 550 female (49.5%) participated in the study (Ageort = 15.52, sd = 0.85). A predictive relationship was found between peer relationships, parent engagement, self-regulation, social emotional learning and well-being. In addition to all these results, all these factors significantly explained the variance of well-being. Another important result is that SEL mediates between well being and ecological factors. This is proof that primarily supports social emotional learning is shaped by ecological factors. These findings are discussed in terms of the advantages of social emotional learning and microsystem support in order to increase the well-being of adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundFamily-based interventions are efficacious at preventing and controlling childhood overweight and obesity; however, implementation is often hindered by low parent engagement. The purpose of this study was to evaluate predictors of parent engagement in a family-based childhood obesity prevention and control intervention.MethodsPredictors were assessed in a clinic-based community health worker (CHW)-led Family Wellness Program consisting of in-person educational workshops attended by parents and children. This program was part of a larger effort known as the Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration projects. Participants included 128 adult caretakers of children ages 2-11 (98% female). Predictors of parent engagement (e.g., anthropometric, sociodemographic, psychosocial variables) were assessed prior to the intervention. Attendance at intervention activities was recorded by the CHW. Zero-inflated Poisson regression was used to determine predictors of non-attendance and degree of attendance.ResultsParents' lower readiness to make behavioral and parenting changes related to their child's health was the sole predictor of non-attendance at planned intervention activities in adjusted models (OR = 0.41, p

Background: Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the nonmedical factors that influence health outcomes. SDOH can be grouped into 5 domains: economic stability, education access and quality, healthcare access and quality, neighborhood and built environment, and social and community context. SDOH impact people's health and quality of life but may also contribute to disparities in access to food, education, and healthcare. SDOH uniquely influence parent feeding practices in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in a variety of ways, ranging from logistical considerations for parent visitation to cultural beliefs such as family perception of human milk feeding. Evidence Acquisition: A hypothetical case example of a preterm infant with a feeding disorder in the NICU is used to connect SDOH that influence prenatal health, parental lived experience, and postnatal medical care to maternal and infant outcomes with implications for feeding practices. Barriers and facilitators to successful feeding practices in the NICU and at discharge are considered for each SDOH domain. Results: This case example increases awareness of SDOH and how they influence parent feeding practices in the NICU, focusing on the intersection of SDOH, parent stress, and oral feeding outcomes. Examples were provided for how to support applying findings into practice. Implications for Practice and Research: By being creating a culture of SDOH awareness, NICU staff can assist families in overcoming barriers by putting supports in place to increase equitable participation in developmentally supportive feeding practices during the NICU stay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed to describe the implementation of a collaborative ride-on car (ROC) intervention by applying a practice model of family-professional collaboration. The model involves specific strategies for collaboration, "visualizing a preferred future" and "scaling questions." The participants were two young children with mobility limitations and their mothers. The 12-week of ROC intervention involved training sessions with a therapist and home sessions. The outcomes included the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) and Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS). The collaborative strategies facilitated parent engagement in goal setting, planning, and evaluation. After the intervention, the mothers' ratings of their children's performance and parent satisfaction on the COPM increased by 6 and 3 points, respectively, and the level of goal attainment exceeded expectations (+1 on GAS) in both families. Prior to the ROC intervention, both families were hesitant to use powered mobility. However, the experience of participating in the ROC intervention process broadened parents' perspectives on self-directed mobility and led them to explore options for their children to move independently. The collaborative ROC intervention can be used as an intervention for early mobility and a bridging step for families reluctant to use a powered wheelchair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schools and districts nationwide have heavily emphasized supporting students' health and wellbeing by engaging families and caregivers to truly support the "whole child," as outlined in the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model. The COVID-19 pandemic only heightened the important role of school and family partnerships in supporting children's health. The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Healthy CPS initiative is designed to support schools in their compliance with existing health and wellness policies to support child health. This study aimed to explore parents' primary health concerns for their children, characterize these views, explore any alignment with WSCC, and identify recommendations for family engagement in school health promotion. Eleven semi-structured focus groups (seven English, four Spanish) were conducted with CPS parents/caregivers. Groups were conducted in spring 2021 on Chicago's West Side, one of the more historically disinvested communities in the city. Focus groups were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using constant comparison, incorporating both inductive and deductive approaches. Key themes emerged related to parents' perceptions of schools' role in promoting health including: (1) parents see child health as a shared responsibility between families and schools; and (2) parents identify significant structural barriers and inequities that impede child health, such as racism, community violence, and a lack of community resources in their neighborhoods, and believe schools can do more to address them. Parents' viewed child health and wellbeing as multidimensional and stated that these dimensions must be considered holistically. Their views aligned with WSCC family engagement-related components. Parents recommended that schools employ a variety of strategies to engage families. Findings from this paper have implications for engaging families in school health policy and program development as well as implementation, particularly those in lower income, urban communities that have faced a history of structural inequities. Highlights: Chicago Public Schools parents in in this sample see child health as a shared responsibility between families and schools. Consistent with the long-standing evidence documenting historic disinvestment on the West Side of Chicago, participating parents identify significant structural barriers and inequities, such as racism, community violence, and a lack of community resources in their neighborhoods, and believe schools can do more to address them. Parents recommend schools take a variety of strategies to engage families and recommend more leadership opportunities for parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This mixed-method, collaborative study investigated parents’ perceptions of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) learning through use of STEM kits specifically designed for in-home use by parents and preschool-age children. Design/methodology/approach – Parents with a child attending a community-based childhood development center and ranging in age from three to four were invited to participate. Data were analyzed for the participants’ surveys, which were completed at two different times (pre and post) for this study. Findings – After utilizing the STEM materials with their child over a two-week period, the parents’ perceptions of STEM content changed. The results indicate that regardless of the at-home STEM materials, positive outcomes for their child occurred, including the likelihood that their child would pursue additional STEM opportunities. Research limitations/implications – With a small sample size and a short timeframe for conducting the study, the results lack generalizability. The findings add information about the effectiveness of STEM materials for preschoolers while providing insight into educational opportunities in home environments. Originality/value – As the nation addresses workforce shortages in many areas, including STEM, rethinking STEM education during the first five years is important. The more opportunities for young children to engage in meaningful STEM, the greater the potential to pique interest and develop critical thinking skills.

This study explores the relationship between community broadband access, parent technology use and beliefs, and student academic outcomes in a Southeastern U.S. school district during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. By applying a quantitative exploratory approach and multiple regression analysis, the research revealed that parents’ technology beliefs and use were significantly associated with students’ standardized Math and ELA scores. While parents’ positive beliefs about technology’s developmental impact showed an inverse relationship with student performance, greater concerns about familial challenges related to technology were associated with lower scores. The results explored persistent social inequities, whereby students who were identified as Black historically score lower than White-identified students, emphasizing the role and importance of digital equity to mitigate disparities and enhance outcomes. Both the methodology and results encourage researchers, educational leaders, and policymakers to deeply consider the role of parental access to and engagement with digital resources, and how they contribute to shaping student outcomes.

Consistent, sensitive caregiving across home and childcare contexts supports optimal development. In this paper, we share the story of the development of Hearts and Minds on Babies (HMB) for Early Head Start (EHS) administrators, teachers, and parents. HMB was designed to support caregiver reflective functioning and sensitivity and reduce caregiver stress. This paper describes a series of Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles used to adapt an existing parenting intervention into the HMB programming for EHS. Throughout the paper, we present HMB concepts and learning objectives and share teachers' and parents' feedback and adaptations to content and delivery options that support implementation by EHS programs. Feedback from the final cycle suggests that HMB supports EHS administrators, teachers, and parents in their roles and improves relationships. The paper highlights the importance of research-practice partnerships in developing programming that meets the needs of EHS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing faith engagement among Catholic school shareholders is a priority for school leaders. Catholic school communities can learn from this year-long project with a parish school. Sacred Heart Parish School serves approximately 300 K3-8th grade students. Like many parish schools, Sacred Heart sees a growing number of parents disengaged with the faith life of the parish and school, despite 98% of them being registered parishioners. The parent population enjoys robust and regular social activities, but report they are uncomfortable or uninterested in faith activities. The mission of Sacred Heart school is to nurture "children's growth in the Catholic faith," so the fact that two-thirds of parents are disengaged with or hostile to the mission is problematic. Sacred Heart's intervention project built on the natural social strengths of parents, catalyzing parent leaders to design a wide variety of faith activities designed to overcome their peers' discomfort and lack of interest. The peer-led interventions increased not only attendance at faith activities, but also financial stewardship to the parish and attendance at weekend liturgies. Parents responded most enthusiastically to invitations targeted to grade-level Mass experiences, so parent leaders focused future efforts on enhancing "Class Mass" initiatives for families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Families have largely been excluded from the implementation of the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (CCSSM), reducing their ability to extend their child's mathematics learning. CCSSM emphasizes different instructional elements (e.g., pictorial representations, problem solving, multiple strategies for solving) that may differ greatly from how parents learned mathematics. In addition, many school officials have ineffectively engaged parents in the changes, further diminishing their capacity to participate in their child's learning. This case study examined parent mathematics self-efficacy and parent mathematics knowledge for teaching, factors that influence the effectiveness of their engagement in their child's mathematics learning. This study was also implemented to identify elements that the parent participant found helpful for their child's mathematics learning. A thematic analysis was performed on the data sources, the interactive homework assignments, a survey, observations, a researcher's journal, and an interview to conclude that the interactive homework assignments improved parent mathematics self-efficacy and parent mathematics knowledge for teaching. The parent participant also identified the assignments' side-by-side examples, additional practice, and the easy access of the assignments as features of the intervention that enhanced her ability to support her child. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to identify indicators of parent engagement in early learning that would be relevant for children's academic success; equitable for all families regardless of social, educational, or economic backgrounds; and actionable for urban school districts seeking to promote parent engagement with limited resources. Using a Delphi technique, a panel of parents, school staff, and researchers rated 106 parent engagement indicators extracted from stakeholder interviews. After multiple Delphi rounds and panel discussion, 30 indicators were retained. Retained indicators focused on home-based activities and home-school relationships/communication; no school-based activities met criteria for relevance, feasibility, and actionability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (2004) mandated schools engage parents in their child's educational planning. Despite schools' adoption of various strategies to promote parent engagement, parents' perceptions about these strategies, especially among those whose children are at the secondary transition age, are often overlooked. To examine parents' perceptions of 23 previously documented parent engagement strategies, we conducted a cross-sectional online survey with 642 parents of youth with disabilities (ages 14–21) in the United States. Overall, participants reported that parent engagement strategies were moderately helpful in promoting parent engagement. Parents of color reported lower scores for perceived helpfulness than their non-Hispanic White counterparts. Top-rated strategies included making time when parents have questions and communicating strategies clearly; however, this varied by race/ethnicity. Findings highlighted the need to address racial disparities in parent engagement strategies and the importance of school-parent collaboration/communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The current study explores the relation between parent involvement and children's school readiness for 568 families enrolled in the Home Instruction of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) program in Texas. Parent involvement in children's learning is a focus of the HIPPY curriculum. Methods: In this analysis, conditional process models were run to examine the relations between children's school readiness and engagement in home learning activities, parents' education level, program language (English or Spanish), both before and after completing a year of the program. Results: At pretest but not posttest, program language moderated the direct relation between parents' education level and children's school readiness and parents with high levels of education were more likely to engage their children in educational activities. Engagement in home learning activities was associated with school readiness regardless of parents' education level and language. Discussion: These findings provide a better understanding of the variables associated with school readiness for HIPPY families, indicating the importance of home learning activities--a variable that may be more amenable to change within intervention programs. Thus, focusing on home learning activities may contribute to decreasing discrepancies in children's preparedness for school entry that are generally identified across language and parent education. Findings may have practical implications for other home visitor programs working with similar populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Research points to family talk and interactions involving STEM concepts as one of the most influential informal learning experiences that shape an individual's STEM identity development and encourage their pursuit of a STEM career. However, a recent literature review uncovers limited research regarding the development of engineering identity in young children. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to add to this scant literature by exploring how children position themselves as engineers and how children are positioned as engineers through interactions with parents and other adults within a program focused on family engagement within an engineering design process. Methods: This study includes two parent–child dyads. We collected and analyzed approximately 19.5 h of video data of the two child–parent dyads interacting with one another throughout an engineering design process as part of an out‐of‐school program. Results: Results highlight three ways in which the two children enacted various engineering identities through their positioning, negotiation, and acceptance and/or rejection of positionalities as they engaged in an engineering design process with a parent. These identity enactments included (a) possessing knowledge and authority to make decisions regarding the development of their self‐identified engineering problem and prototype; (b) questioning and challenging adult ideas, solutions, and construction of prototypes; and (c) documenting and communicating their thinking regarding the engineering design through sketches and notes. Conclusions: The significance of this study lies in its potential to change the landscape of those who pursue an engineering career and to contribute to the limited research and ongoing conversations about how to foster environments that support families in creative and collaborative learning specific to the engineering discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a literacy framework, this case study explores parents' assessment literacy in South Florida (United States). Data were collected using focus-group interviews of public-school parents (N = 32) and a document artifact. Findings illustrate how parents drew upon verbal and virtual information and social interactions to learn about the educational assessments used for their children. Implications for educators were identified to assist parents in asking assessment questions in order to demystify the educational assessment process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children with autism situated in lower income families often receive intensive educational interventions as their primary form of treatment, due to financial barriers for community interventions. However, the continuity of care can be disrupted by school transitions. The quality of social relationships during the transition to a new school among parents, school staff and community providers, called the team-around-the-child (TAC), can potentially buffer a child with autism from the adverse effects caused by care disruptions. Qualities of social relationships, including trust and collaborative problem solving, can be measured using social network analysis. This study investigates if two different types of TAC relationships, defined as (1) the level of trust among team members and (2) the degree of collaborative problem solving among team members, are associated with perceived successful transitions for children with autism from lower income families. Findings suggested that TAC trust is significantly associated with the outcome of transition success for children with autism immediately post-transition.

Abstract Background Family-based interventions are efficacious at preventing and controlling childhood overweight and obesity; however, implementation is often hindered by low parent engagement. The purpose of this study was to evaluate predictors of parent engagement in a family-based childhood obesity prevention and control intervention. Methods Predictors were assessed in a clinic-based community health worker (CHW)-led Family Wellness Program consisting of in-person educational workshops attended by parents and children. This program was part of a larger effort known as the Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration projects. Participants included 128 adult caretakers of children ages 2–11 (98% female). Predictors of parent engagement (e.g., anthropometric, sociodemographic, psychosocial variables) were assessed prior to the intervention. Attendance at intervention activities was recorded by the CHW. Zero-inflated Poisson regression was used to determine predictors of non-attendance and degree of attendance. Results Parents’ lower readiness to make behavioral and parenting changes related to their child’s health was the sole predictor of non-attendance at planned intervention activities in adjusted models (OR = 0.41, p

The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has been particularly harmful to economically vulnerable families with young children. We surveyed 247 low-income mothers and fathers from 142 families in the United States about changes in their family life following the economic and social restrictions imposed by the pandemic. We examined the associations between pandemic-related risk factors such as economic stressors (e.g., loss of job) and social stressors (e.g., exposure to the virus) on family functioning (e.g., parents' mental health, parent engagement, and children's socioemotional behaviors) and the degree to which coparenting support and parents' positivity protected families from the negative effects of these stressors on their wellbeing. We found both positive and negative associations. Mothers and fathers who reported more economic stressors since the pandemic also observed that their children behaved more prosocially and that fathers experienced more mental health difficulties during the pandemic. Mothers and fathers who reported more social stressors reported that they were less engaged with their children and their children exhibited more behavior problems compared to before the pandemic. We also found that mothers and fathers who reported feeling more positive also reported feeling less depressed and stressed during the pandemic and observed that their children had more prosocial behaviors compared to before the pandemic. Compared to before the pandemic, mothers and fathers who reported a more supportive coparenting relationship also reported more parent engagement and observed more prosocial behaviors in their children. In terms of protective factors, high levels of parent positivity during the pandemic protected mothers (less mental health difficulties) whereas high levels of coparenting support protected fathers (less mental health difficulties) from the negative effects of economic stress on their mental health during the pandemic. These findings highlight family processes that could promote resilience in mothers and fathers in the face of pandemic-related economic and social stressors.

IntroductionSchools were uniquely impacted during the COVID-19 (SARS-COV-2) pandemic. We sought to elucidate how parents/guardians of elementary and middle school students in Maryland navigated the return to in-person school following remote instruction. We also sought to understand how they perceived communication about school-based COVID-19 mitigation strategies and their preferences for the content and format of public health communication about COVID-19 mitigation in schools.MethodsWe engaged a community advisory board comprised of key partners and implemented a survey and focus groups.ResultsResults indicated that parents/guardians wanted clearer communication about COVID-19 mitigation policies in schools and were experiencing fatigue and confusion. These insights informed the development of a tailorable communication toolkit. The toolkit was designed to (1) inform parents/guardians about the importance and effectiveness of mitigation strategies for preventing viral spread to keep children in school, (2) promote a sense of community and support, and (3) help school communication teams effectively communicate information about mitigation strategies being implemented.DiscussionWe describe a process for leveraging schools as a trusted messenger, engaging school communities in the development of communication messages, and utilizing a tailorable communication toolkit in the context of shifting public health guidance and local needs. The toolkit development and dissemination process offers a model for targeting public health messaging to parents/guardians in school settings.

Background: Parents play a critical role in delaying adolescent initiation of alcohol and other drug use. However, the majority of prevention programs focus on adolescents only. This study tested the acceptability and effectiveness of an eHealth universal program for students and parents to prevent adolescent alcohol use. Methods: A cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted between 2018 and 2020 with students from one grade level (aged 12–14 years) from 12 Australian secondary schools randomly allocated to the intervention or control conditions. Students accessed a web-based program in class and parents accessed the program online at their convenience. Data were collected via online questionnaires from students (N = 572) and parents (N = 78) at baseline, and 12- and 24- months post baseline. Multilevel, mixed effects regression models were used to analyse student data. Findings: More students in the control group reported having at least one standard alcoholic drink and engaging in heavy episodic drinking in the previous 12 months at both 12- and 24-month follow up compared to students in the intervention, however, these differences were not statistically significant. Students in the intervention group reported greater increases in alcohol-related knowledge, compared to the control students. Qualitative data from parents indicated that they found the program useful, however, the number of parents who enrolled in the research study (13.9 %) was low. Parent engagement increased following implementation of an interactive parent/adolescent homework task. Conclusions: Small sample size, low prevalence of alcohol use and parental engagement, and relatively short follow-up period may have contributed to lack of observed intervention effect, other than on alcohol-related knowledge. Parents who engaged with the program found it useful, however, implementation strategies that encourage parent-child interaction and communication may increase parent engagement for future programs.

A discourse of poverty can influence teachers’ perceptions towards and ways of supporting parents’ engagement in their children’s learning. In 2021, Goodall invited us to examine the discourse surrounding a culture of poverty and seek ways to engage with parents so that we might dismantle systemic inequities. This study explored four primary school teachers’ consideration of how they could adapt their own practices to strengthen families’ engagement in their children’s learning. Data collection incorporated transcripts from reflective practice meetings and semi-structured interviews utilised throughout a two-cycle process of Critical Participatory Action Research. The theory of practice architectures framed analysis of the teachers’ language (sayings), activities (doings) and relationships (relatings) within parent engagement and the specific conditions which support and hinder practice. Within this study the participating teachers perceived that parent engagement is more achievable in a dominant community. Within the nondominant community where the teachers worked, social and cultural factors were perceived to problematise parent engagement. This paper advocates for schools to routinely embed reflexive practices which support teachers to examine and address systemic impediments to parent engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The parents know their baby best, and parents leading a neonatal ward round can easily be incorporated into your everyday practice and consultant ward rounds. It requires very little other than some communication with parents and colleagues about what to expect. How it runs will depend on parents' priorities that day, and where they are in their neonatal journey. Here I will describe some of the potential barriers and, more importantly, some of the expected benefits of this practice which more fully embraces parents as partners in care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Youth and parent engagement is a key component of clinical research. There are many ways to actively and meaningfully engage youth and parents as integral members of research teams, for example, through ad-hoc committees, advisory councils, or as co-leads on projects. When youth and parents are actively and meaningfully engaged in research projects, they share knowledge from their lived experiences to improve the quality and relevance of research. Methods We describe a case-based example of engaging youth and parent research partners when co-designing a questionnaire to assess preferences for pediatric headache treatments, from both a researcher and youth/parent perspective. We also summarize best practices in patient and family engagement from the literature and pertinent guidelines to assist researchers with integrating patient and family engagement into their studies. Results As researchers, we felt that the integration of a youth and parent engagement plan into our study significantly altered and strengthened questionnaire content validity. We encountered challenges throughout the process and detailed these experiences to help educate others about challenge mitigation and best practices in youth and parent engagement. As youth and parent partners, we felt that engaging in the process of questionnaire development was an exciting and empowering opportunity, and that our feedback was valued and integrated. Conclusions By sharing our experience, we hope to catalyze thought and discussion around the importance of youth and parent engagement in pediatric research, with the goal of stimulating more appropriate, relevant, and high-quality pediatric research and clinical care in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schools are increasingly using technology to connect with families. Yet, we still know little about how technology shapes parent engagement—particularly for low-income Latinx families. Garnering insights from the Ecologies of Parental Engagement framework and wide-ranging qualitative data, we explore Latinx engagement at an urban, high-tech elementary school. Findings suggest that technology and language independently and concurrently shaped engagement. Within school-based spaces (e.g., cafeteria, classroom), engagement also manifested differently depending on parents' resources and the particular space's rules and norms. In each space, parents overcame barriers to interact and invest—virtually or physically—in their children's schooling. Implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fundamental movement skills (FMS) are basic movements in children that represent the building blocks for more complex motor skill development and act as a prerequisite for enduring sport and physical activity (PA) engagement and positive health-related behaviours. The FMS proficiency is currently inadequate worldwide, and consequently there are alarming levels of inactivity and childhood obesity. However, parents are role models to their children and possess the power to influence their PA behaviour. This review investigated if parent-focused interventions could improve FMS in 2–7-year-old children and evaluated which setting and method of parent engagement was most impactful. Keyword searches were conducted via Scopus, Web of Science, SPORTDiscus, PubMed, Science Direct, and Google Scholar. Only nine articles met the inclusion criteria. No research originated from the United Kingdom, highlighting the urgent need for further FMS interventions involving parents. The FMS improved in all nine studies, with significant changes in seven of the articles (p < 0.05). Parent–child co-activity, the education and empowerment of parents, and the provision of clear FMS guidance, messaging, and structure can positively influence children's FMS. Recently, smartphone apps have increased the feasibility and accessibility of FMS practice at home and may be integral to future interventions. Further research with direct parental involvement is clearly warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insufficient sleep contributes negatively to child developmental processes and neurocognitive abilities, which argues the need for implementing interventions to promote sleep health in children. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of a multimodal and multilevel school-based sleep education program in primary school children using a cluster randomized controlled design. Twelve schools were randomly assigned to either the sleep education or nonactive control groups. The sleep education group included a town hall seminar, small class teaching, leaflets, brochures, and a painting competition for children. Parents and teachers were invited to participate in a one-off sleep health workshop. Parental/caregiver-reported questionnaires were collected at baseline and 1-month follow-up. A total of 3769 children were included in the final analysis. There were no significant improvements observed in the sleep-wake patterns, daytime functioning, and insomnia symptoms between the two groups at follow-up, whereas the intervention group had significantly improved parental sleep knowledge than the controls (paternal: adjusted mean difference: 0.95 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.18 to 1.71]; maternal: adjusted mean difference: 0.87 [95% CI: 0.17 to 1.57]). In addition, children receiving the intervention had a lower persistence rate of excessive beverage intake (adjusted odds ratio: 0.49 [95% CI: 0.33 to 0.73]), and experienced greater reductions in conduct problems (adjusted mean difference: 0.12 [95% CI: 0.01 to 0.24]) compared with the controls at 1-month of follow-up. Moreover, a marginally significant reduction for emotional problems in the intervention group was also observed (adjusted mean difference: 0.16 [95% CI: −0.00 to 0.32]). These findings demonstrated that school-based sleep education was effective in enhancing parental sleep knowledge and improving behavioral outcomes in children, but not sufficient in altering the children's sleep-wake patterns and sleep problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examined Israeli mothers' engagement in their children's distance learning during COVID-19 crisis. A thematic analysis of interviews with 20 mothers from high and low socioeconomic background yielded three core categories: (a) mothers' responses to the situation of school closures that addressed to organizing, supervising and less learning pressure by keeping boundaries between school and home activities; (b) challanged and concerens that refed to workload, instructional difficulty and the quality of teachers' work; (c) mothers' resources for engaging in their children'slearning that comprised social capital and human capital including digital skills. Socioeconomic differences were found in regard to these three core categories that sustain inequality. However, mothers from low socioeconomic background reported being actively engaged and critical toward teachers. Implications regarding parent engagement at the post-COVID-19 are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We sought to understand the role of parent engagement in overcoming barriers to care for youth re-entering the community following incarceration. For this mixed methods study, we conducted quantitative surveys on healthcare needs and access with youth (n = 50) at 1-month post-incarceration, and semi-structured interviews with a subset of these youth (n = 27) and their parents (n = 34) at 1, 3, and 6-months post-incarceration (total 94 interviews). Differences by race/ethnicity and gender were assessed using Chi square test of proportions. We performed thematic analysis of interview transcripts to examine the role of parent engagement in influencing youths' access to healthcare during reentry. Most youth were from racial/ethnic minority groups and reported multiple ACEs. Girls, compared to boys, had higher ACE scores (p = 0.03), lower family connectedness (p = 0.03), and worse general health (p = 0.02). Youth-identified barriers to care were often parent-dependent and included lack of: affordable care (22%), transportation (16%), and accompaniment to health visits (14%). Two major themes emerged from the qualitative interviews: (1) parents motivate youth to seek healthcare during reentry and (2) parents facilitate the process of youth seeking healthcare during reentry. Parents are instrumental in linking youth to healthcare during reentry, dispelling prevailing myths that parents of incarcerated youth are inattentive and that youth do not want their help. Efforts that support and enhance parent engagement in access to care during reentry, such as by actively involving parents in pre-release healthcare planning, may create stronger linkages to care.

Abstract Background This study aimed to explore the internal consistency and factor validity of the 13-item self-report questionnaire Parent-Patient Activation Measure (P-PAM) in a sample of parents of children with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Methods In a cross-sectional study, 239 parents were recruited from four outpatient clinics of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and completed the P-PAM along with demographic variables. The factor structure of the P-PAM was examined through exploratory factor analysis, and internal consistency was estimated with the use of both Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega. A confirmatory factor analysis was used to estimate and test individual parameters. Results The fit indices suggest an acceptable two-factor model of P-PAM and show high internal consistency and reliability for both factors, indicating that the scale measures two concepts. Conclusions Our findings provide evidence for an acceptable factor structure and a high reliability of P-PAM as a measure of parent activation, suggesting that the theoretical factors reflect the construct of parent activation as intuitively compiled into an inner cognitive factor and an outer behavioral factor, which are related.