The Northwestern University Two-Generation Study of Parent and Child Human Capital Advancement

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The Northwestern University Two-Generation Child and Family Outcomes Study (NU2Gen) of the Community Action Project of Tulsa County's (CAP Tulsa's) CareerAdvance® program examines the effects of CareerAdvance® on parent and child human capital outcomes (e.g., child academic achievement, parent educational advancement and certification, and psychological and family functioning), and (2) explore mechanisms that might give rise to program effects (e.g., home language environment; coping, balance, and stress; and parent and academic and career identity).

Detailed Description
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The Northwestern University Two-Generation Study (NU2Gen) of Parent and Child Human Capital Advancement is funded through Community Action Project of Tulsa County's (CAP Tulsa) Health Profession Opportunity Grant (HPOG II) from the Administration for Children and Families and through the HPOG II University Partnership grant. The federal awards support the implementation of CareerAdvance®, a workforce training and career employment program for parents living in Tulsa, Oklahoma and the surrounding communities, as well as our Northwestern-based research project. CareerAdvance® provides education and training, career coaching, and other supportive services for parents while their children attend CAP Tulsa-run Head Start programs, other Tulsa-area public preschool programs, and Tulsa-area K-12 public schools. The explicit goal of the program is to promote the economic self-sufficiency and well-being of low-income families across generations. The evaluation is composed of two parts: the Two-Generation Human Capital Outcomes Study and the Two-Generation Explanatory Mechanisms Study. Through parent surveys and parent and child administrative data we will examine the effects of CareerAdvance® on parent and child human capital outcomes (e.g., child academic achievement, parent educational advancement and certification, and psychological and family functioning). Using innovative measurement tools (e.g. Language Environment Analysis (LENA)) along with parent and child focus groups and interviews, we will also explore mechanisms that might give rise to program effects (e.g., home language environment; coping, balance, and stress; and academic and career identities). Participants will actively take part in the study for three years and we will collect child administrative data for study parents' children until they turn 18 years old or graduate high school, whichever occurs last. Current funding for NU2Gen is through September 2020.

Official Title
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The Northwestern University Two-Generation Study of Parent and Child Human Capital Advancement

Conditions
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Parents, Children

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: CareerAdvance®


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Applicants to CAP Tulsa's CareerAdvance® program under the HPOG II evaluation study, including participants who are randomly assigned not to participate in CareerAdvance® by the HPOG II evaluation study. Exclusion Criteria: Not proficient in English

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Other
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: CareerAdvance®<br>CareerAdvance® provides education, career coaching, and soft-skills training for parents while their children attend Head Start programs. | Behavioral: CareerAdvance®<br>* CareerAdvance® is a dual-generation program providing education, career coaching, and soft-skills training for parents while their children attend CAP Tulsa's Head Start programs.<br>|
| No Intervention: Control Standard of CAP<br>No assignment to participate in the CareerAdvance® program, but given community referrals and resources | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Parent's employment | We expect higher rates of employment | Year 2 | 
| Parent's healthcare sector employment | We expect higher rates of employment in the healthcare sector | Years 1 and 2 | 
| Parent's income | We expect higher income | Year 2 | 
| Parent's income | We expect lower income | Year 1 | 
| Parent's healthcare training certification | We expect higher rates of healthcare training certification and credentialing | Years 1 and 2 | 
| Child's academic achievement | We expect higher levels of academic achievement | Year 2 | 
| Child's attendance | We expect higher rates of school attendance | Years 1 and 2 | 
| Child's grade promotion | We expect higher rates of grade promotion | Years 1 and 2 | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Parent's depression | We expect less depression; Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II; Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996) | Year 2 | 
| Parent's optimism | We expect increased optimism; Revised Life Orientation Test (LOT-R; Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994) | Year 2 | 
| Parent's work-family balance | We expect better work-family balance; Fragile Families Study; CAP Family Advancement Study (NU) | Year 2 | 
| Parenting stress | We expect stable or increased parenting stress; Aggravation in Parenting Questionnaire (APQ; Cooper et al., 2009); Fragile Families Study | Year 1 | 
| Parent's perceived stress | We expect stable or increased perceived stress; Perceived Stress Scale (PSS; Cohen & Williamson, 1988) | Year 1 | 
| Parent's hope/goal efficacy | We expect higher levels of hope/goal efficacy; State Hope Scale (Snyder et al., 1996) | Year 2 | 
| Parent's social capital | We expect higher social capital; Willingness to ask for/offer help (Adapted from the Boston Non-Profit Organizations Study survey; Tran, Graif, Jones, Small, & Winship, 2013) | Year 2 | 
| Child adaptive skills | We expect an increase in child adaptive skills; Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS-RS; Gresham & Elliott, 2008) | Year 2 | 
| Home language environment | We expect an increase in positive home language environment factors (e.g., books, reading time, learning activities) and a decrease in negative home language environment factors (e.g., television, video games/computer time, phone); Language Environment Analysis (LENA) system | Year 2 | 
| Time use | We expect improved time use in the home; LENA Time Diary (Northwestern University, 2017) | Year 2 | 
| Routines | We expect more stable routines in the home | Year 2 | 
| Child emotional and behavior problems | We expect stable or increased child behavior problems; Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000) | Year 1 | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Low income, Education, Poverty, Children, Parents, Head Start