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Family Foundations - Promising Futures
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Programs

Family Foundations

Overview

Delivery Approach:
  • Group
Delivery Format:
  • In-Person
Provider Requirements:
  • Other Provider Requirements (see Program Details)
Type of Experience Addressed:
  • Child Abuse
  • Domestic Violence
Engagement Methods:
  • Talk-Based
  • Experiential
Level of Intervention:
  • Primary Prevention
Length:
  • Less than 12 weeks
Setting:
  • Hospital-based
  • Community Based Agency
  • Family Service Agency
  • Other Settings (see Program Details)
Program Details:
Type of services provided:

A universal prevention program, Family Foundations offers a series of psycho-educational, group classes to first-time parents before and after birth of their child to improve parent adjustment (stress, depression, anxiety) and self-regulation, strengthen co-parenting and support of each other, and enhance parental warmth and sensitivity. The impact on intimate partner violence (IPV) and parent-to-child violence has been included in program outcomes.

Topics addressed in this manualized series of classes include: Building a Family, Feelings and Managing Conflicts, Good Sport Teamwork, Working it Out, New Parenting Experiences, Security (parent-child attachment), Problem-Solving and Keeping Things Positive.

Program setting:

Hospital, outpatient clinics, community-based organizations

Length of program/number of sessions:

Total of nine parenting classes of which five are delivered prenatally and four postnatally

Type(s) of trauma/concerns addressed:

Intimate partner violence, parent-to-child violence and aggressive parenting have been included in evaluations of this program

Education level of providers:

College education is recommended as well as experience working with families and leading groups. Classes are co-delivered by a male and female.

Unique/Innovative Characteristics:

This brief perinatal parenting psycho-education program has evaluated the impact of the intervention on intimate partner violence (IPV) and has examined the connection between IPV, parenting and coparenting.

While designed as a primary prevention program, Family Foundations has been adapted for selected higher risk populations such as teen parents and low-income parents.

Date Added/Updated:

6/22/20

Population Served

Age:
Population Language:
  • English
  • Portuguese
  • Other Population Language
Ethnic Racial Group:
Client/Audience:
  • Family
  • Other Client/Audience (see Program Details)
Population Adaptations:
Age range of children served:

Approximately one month before birth into the postnatal period

Are parent/adult caregiver(s) included in intervention?

This is a parenting program designed for pregnant couples with a due date about 4 weeks away

Ethnic/racial and other groups served:

Study populations in published evaluations are predominantly non-Hispanic Whites

Specific cultural adaptations:

None specified. There are variations of the Family Foundations program for low-income teen parents, low-income and lower-education adult parents, military families, and parents with a child recently diagnosed with autism.

Languages that service/resource is available:

There are adaptations and translations in Portuguese, Japanese, Russian and Kyrgyz.

Evaluation

Foundation:
Goals of the program/services:
  • Reduced parental stress
  • Reduced parent depression and anxiety
  • Increased parent self-efficacy
  • Enhanced co-parental support and cooperation
  • Reduced co-parental conflict and undermining
  • Enhanced parental warmth and sensitivity
  • Reduced harsh and physically aggressive parenting
  • Reduced family violence
  • Enhanced child social-emotion competence and academic adjustment
  • Reduced child internalizing and externalizing behaviors
Evaluation Studies:
Has there been any evaluation?

Yes

Key evaluation results:

In a randomized controlled trial with 169 predominantly Non-Hispanic White adults (50% female; 50 % male; couples expecting their first child), participants receiving the intervention (8 class version) significant improvement in self-reported co-parental support, maternal depression and anxiety, distress in parent-child relationship and infant regulation compared to the control group (Feinberg & Kan, 2008). There was greater impact of the program for parents with lower education and when the father reported higher levels of insecure attachment in close relationships.

Feinberg, M. E., & Kan, M. L. (2008). Establishing Family Foundations: Intervention effects on co-parenting, parent/infant well-being, and parent-child relations. Journal of Family Psychology, 22(2), 253-263. doi:10.1037/0893-3200.22.2.253

 

This publication reports data at one-year follow-up of the randomized controlled trial described above (Feinberg, Kan & Goslin, 2009). Parents in the intervention group reported statistically higher scores for co-parental relationship, couple relationship quality, parenting quality and child self-regulatory capacity when their infants were 1-year old compared to the control group.

Feinberg, M. E., Kan, M. L., & Goslin, M. C. (2009). Enhancing co-parenting, parenting, and child self-regulation: Effects of Family Foundations 1 year after birth. Prevention Science, 10(3), 276-285. doi:10.1007/s11121-009-0130-4

 

This publication reports data at 3-year follow-up of the randomized controlled trial by Feinberg & Kan (2008). Parents in the intervention group experienced significant program effects on parental stress and self-efficacy, co-parenting, harsh parenting and children’s emotional adjustment. In cohabiting couples, mothers in the intervention group reported less maternal depression.

Feinberg, M. E., Jones, D. E., Kan, M. L., & Goslin, M. C. (2010). Effects of family foundations on parents and children: 3.5 years after baseline. Journal of Family Psychology, 24(5), 532-542. doi:10.1037/a0020837

 

This study examined intimate partner violence before the birth of a child as a predictor of co-parenting quality when the child reach 1-year of age (Kan et al, 2012). The analysis used data from the randomized controlled trial by Feinberg & Kan (2008). Perpetration of intimate partner violence by men and women was related to co-parenting quality. Couple relationship quality and parent mental health problems accounted for the links between prenatal intimate partner violence and co-parenting issues.

Kan, M. L., & Feinberg, M. E., & Solmeyer, A. R. (2012). Intimate partner violence and coparenting across the transition to parenthood. Journal of Family Issues, 33(2), 115-135. doi:10.1177/0192513X11412037

 

This study examined the effects of the Family Foundation Program on self-reported psychological intimate partner violence and parent-child physical violence at 3 years follow-up (when the child was 3-years old). The analysis used data from the randomized controlled trial by Feinberg & Kan (2008). Among parents who received the intervention, there was a significant reduction in psychological intimate partner violence perpetrated by fathers and reduced-parent-child physical aggression by mothers for couples that reported frequent partner psychological aggression prior to the intervention. There was also a significant reduction in partner psychological aggression by fathers for couples reporting severe physical intimate partner violence prior to the intervention.

Kan, M. L., & Feinberg, M. E. (2014). Can a family-focused, transition-to-parenthood program prevent parent and partner aggression among couples with young children? Violence and Victims, 29, 967-980. doi:10.1891/0886-6708.VV-D-12-00162

 

At 5- to 7-year follow-up, teachers reported significantly lower levels of internalizing problems among children in the Family Foundations intervention group (Feinberg et al, 2014).

Feinberg, M. E., Jones, D. E., Roettger, M. E., Solmeyer, A., & Hostetler, M. L. (2014). Long-term follow-up of a randomized trial of family foundations: Effects on children’s emotional, behavioral, and school adjustment. Journal of Family Psychology, 28(6), 821-831. doi:10.1037/fam0000037

 

Using data at one-year follow-up of the randomized controlled trial by Feinberg & Kan (2008), links between intimate partner violence perpetrated by mothers and fathers prenatally and parenting during the first year of their child’s life were only significant for parents in the control group. Co-parenting did not mediate this association among control group couples. The authors suggest that the Family Foundations program may help to “inoculate parenting from the effects of pre-birth IPV” because families receiving the intervention showed almost no significant associations between IPV and parenting over time.

Kan, M. L., & Feinberg, M. E. (2015). Impacts of a co-parenting-focused intervention on links between pre-birth intimate partner violence and observed parenting. Journal of Family Violence, 30(3), 363-372. doi:10.1007/s10896-015-9678-x

In a second randomized controlled trial with 399 first-time parents (85% Non-Hispanic White), couples in the intervention group reported improved (parental) mental health and adjustment, co-parenting and couple relationships, parenting quality and early infant self-regulation. Parents who received the intervention self-reported lower levels of physical intimate partner violence (measured with the Conflict Tactics Scale) and lower parent-to-child physical and psychological violence.

Feinberg, M. E., Jones, D., Hostetler, M., Roettger, M., Paul, I., & Ehrenthal, D. (2016). Couple-focused prevention at the transition to parenthood, a randomized trial: Effects on coparenting, parenting, family violence, and parent and child adjustment. Prevention Science, 17(6), 751-764. doi:10.1007/s11121-016-0674-z

Other Publications:

Feinberg, M. E., & Kan, M. L. (2008). Establishing Family Foundations: Intervention effects on coparenting, parent/infant well-being, and parent-child relations. Journal of Family Psychology, 22(2), 253-263. doi:10.1037/0893-3200.22.2.253

Feinberg, M. E., Kan, M. L., & Goslin, M. C. (2009). Enhancing coparenting, parenting, and child self-regulation: Effects of Family Foundations 1 year after birth. Prevention Science, 10(3), 276-285. doi:10.1007/s11121-009-0130-4

Feinberg, M. E., Jones, D. E., Kan, M. L., & Goslin, M. C. (2010). Effects of family foundations on parents and children: 3.5 years after baseline. Journal of Family Psychology, 24(5), 532-542. doi:10.1037/a0020837

Kan, M. L., & Feinberg, M. E., & Solmeyer, A. R. (2012). Intimate partner violence and coparenting across the transition to parenthood. Journal of Family Issues, 33(2), 115-135. doi:10.1177/0192513X11412037

Kan, M. L., & Feinberg, M. E. (2014). Can a family-focused, transition-to-parenthood program prevent parent and partner aggression among couples with young children? Violence and Victims, 29, 967-980. doi:10.1891/0886-6708.VV-D-12-00162

Feinberg, M. E., Jones, D. E., Roettger, M. E., Solmeyer, A., & Hostetler, M. L. (2014). Long-term follow-up of a randomized trial of family foundations: Effects on children’s emotional, behavioral, and school adjustment. Journal of Family Psychology, 28(6), 821-831. doi:10.1037/fam0000037

Solmeyer, A. R., Feinberg, M. E., Coffman, D. L., & Jones, D. E. (2014). The effects of the Family Foundations prevention program on coparenting and child adjustment: A mediation analysis. Prevention Science, 15, 213–223. doi:10.1007/s11121-013-0366-x

Kan, M. L., & Feinberg, M. E. (2015). Impacts of a coparenting-focused intervention on links between pre-birth intimate partner violence and observed parenting. Journal of Family Violence, 30(3), 363-372. doi:10.1007/s10896-015-9678-x

Feinberg, M. E., Jones, D., Roettger, M., Hostetler, M., Sakuma, K., Paul, I., & Ethrenthal, D. (2016). Preventive effects on birth outcomes: Buffering impact of maternal stress, depression, & anxiety. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 20(1), 56-65. doi:10.1007/s10995-015-1801-3

Feinberg, M. E., Jones, D., Hostetler, M., Roettger, M., Paul, I., & Ehrenthal, D. (2016). Couple-focused prevention at the transition to parenthood, a randomized trial: Effects on coparenting, parenting, family violence, and parent and child adjustment. Prevention Science, 17(6), 751-764. doi:10.1007/s11121-016-0674-z.

Rated/Reviewed by Evidence Based Registries:

California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC)
Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP) Best Practice

Training & Resources

Training Language:
  • Not indicated
Training Availability:
  • Yes, training requires 2-3 days and is provided onsite
Training Details:
Training manuals/protocols:

Yes

Availability of Training:

Yes, training requires 2-3 days and is provided onsite

Training Costs:

Not indicated

Training Contact

Program Contact

Daniela Fine
Daniela@famfound.net
www.famfound.net