Yarger, H. A., Bernard, K., Caron, E., Wallin, A., & Dozier, M. (in press). Enhancing parenting quality for young children adopted internationally: Results of a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology.
| Screening decision | Screening conclusion | HomVEE procedures and standards version |
|---|---|---|
| Passes screens | Eligible for review | Version 1 |
| Rating | Design | Attrition | Baseline equivalence | Compromised randomization | Confounding factors | Valid, reliable measure(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | Randomized controlled trial | Low | Established on race/ethnicity, SES, and baseline measures of the outcomes | None | None | Not assessed in manuscripts reviewed before 2021 |
In addition to the pooled findings across the 7- to 37-month follow-up interval, authors reported findings separately for each 6-month follow-up period. At each follow-up, all findings received a high rating, therefore, HomVEE reported the pooled findings instead of the separate findings for each individual follow-up period.
| Study participants | Participants were recruited through adoption agencies in the region. Parents were eligible to participate if they were the primary caregiver of an internationally adopted child. One-hundred and twenty parent-child dyads were randomly assigned to either ABC-Infant or a comparison program that also provided home visits. The study was conducted between April 2009 and May 2017. At baseline, 94 percent of dyads included the child’s mother and 95 percent of parents identified as White/non-Hispanic; 63 percent of children identified as Asian American. The average parent age was 39.7 years; the average child age was 22 months. Fifty-eight percent of parents reported annual incomes of more than $100,000. |
|---|---|
| Setting | This study was conducted in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. |
| Intervention services | ABC-Infant consisted of 10 weekly hour-long home visits. The sessions focused on five topic areas: providing nurturance, following the child’s lead, refraining from frightening behavior, parents recognizing the effect of their own childhood experiences on their parenting behavior, and learning the importance of touch and children’s emotions. Across all sessions, parent trainers engaged parents in structured activities with their children and then provided feedback on observations of participants’ parenting behavior, both in real-time and by playing back video recordings from the sessions. |
| Comparison conditions | Comparison families received Developmental Education for Families (DEF) in home visits that were of the same duration (10 hour-long sessions) and frequency (weekly) as ABC-Infant. DEF was designed to enhance cognitive and linguistic development. For this study, components related to parental sensitivity were excluded. |
| Subgroups examined |
This field lists subgroups examined in the manuscript (even if they were not replicated in other samples and not reported on the summary page for this model’s report). Subgroups are not listed for manuscripts reviewed before 2021. |
| Funding sources | This research was supported by Award Number R01MH052135 from the National Institute of Mental Health. |
| Author affiliation | Mary Dozier, one of the study authors, is a developer of the ABC home visiting model. |
| Peer reviewed | Peer reviewed status is not listed for manuscripts reviewed before 2021. |
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00816621. Study registration was assessed by HomVEE beginning with the 2014 review.
Findings that rate moderate or high
| Rating | Outcome measure | Effect | Sample | Timing of follow-up | Sample size | Intervention group | Comparison group | Group difference | Effect size | Statistical significance | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | Observational Record of the Caregiving Environment (ORCE) adapted scale - Intrusiveness |
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect |
ABC-I vs. DEF; international adoptions; Mid-Atlantic |
7-37 months post-intervention (pooled) |
120 parents | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported | HomVEE calculated = -0.32 | Not statistically significant, p= 0.11 |
Negative effect is favorable to the intervention. |
| High | Observational Record of the Caregiving Environment (ORCE) adapted scale - Parenting sensitivity |
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect |
ABC-I vs. DEF; international adoptions; Mid-Atlantic |
7-37 months post-intervention (pooled) |
120 parents | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported | HomVEE calculated = 0.52 | Statistically significant, p= 0.01 |
|
| High | Observational Record of the Caregiving Environment (ORCE) adapted scale - Positive regard |
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect |
ABC-I vs. DEF; international adoptions; Mid-Atlantic |
7-37 months post-intervention (pooled) |
120 parents | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported | HomVEE calculated = 0.36 | Statistically significant, p= 0.05 |