Clinical trial NCT02412748: The Dedicated African American Dad Study
Official title: African American Non-Resident Fatherhood Program: Effects on Child/Family Outcomes
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Father - Child Relations
Keywords: Non-Resident
Fathers
African American
Lead sponsor: Rush University Medical Center
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)
First posted: 2015-04-09
Enrollment: 308
Sex: MALE
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: The number of children living apart from their fathers has grown nationally, and the greatest percentage is evident among African American (AA) families; two-thirds of all African American children live in households without their biological father. Research supports the importance of positive fathering in the lives of children. But in order for children to benefit from their fathers' involvement, the father-child relationship must be timely and sustained. This study will test culturally relevant interventions aimed at increasing non-resident (not living with the child) AA fathers' involvement with their children.

Detailed description: The purpose of this competing continuation study is to test the efficacy of the core 9-session BBTF program (held over12-weeks) on: (1) improving father outcomes (psychological well-being, relationship quality with the child's mother, parenting competence); (2) father-mother relationship quality; (3) father involvement (material support, in-kind support, direct father-child interaction); and (4) child outcomes (behavioral, social, emotional). The study will use an experimental design and randomly assign 180 AA fathers who are not currently involved with the criminal justice system and their 2-5 year old children to the BBTF or an attention control condition and assess outcomes at baseline, 12 weeks, and 24 weeks. Custodial mothers of the children will be recruited to concurrently complete child outcome measures, measures of father-mother relationship quality, and father involvement measures.

The specific aims and hypotheses are as follows:

Aim 1: Test the direct effects of the 9-session BBTF program on: (1) father's outcomes (psychological well-being, parenting competence, and communication and problem solving) and (2) paternal involvement (material support, in-kind support, and direct father-child interaction), controlling for father characteristics (demographics, history of criminal justice system involvement, social support) and child characteristics (age, gender). Hypothesis 1: BBTF program fathers will report better father outcomes and greater paternal involvement than the attention control group at 12 weeks and 24 weeks.

Aim 2: Test the mediating effects of father-mother relationship and father outcomes on paternal involvement across the two conditions. Hypothesis 2: Father-mother relationship quality and father outcomes will mediate intervention effects on paternal involvement.

Aim 3: Compare the effects of the BBTF program, controlling for father outcomes, father-mother relationship, and paternal involvement on child outcomes (behavioral, emotional/social development) as compared to the attention control group. Hypothesis 3a: BBTF children will have improved child outcomes relative to the control group at 12 weeks and 24 weeks. Hypothesis 3b: Child outcomes will be mediated by improvements in father outcomes, paternal involvement and father-mother relationship.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* AA biological father of a child 2 to 5 years old
* Child lives with father no more than 48 hours per week (e.g., spends the weekends with his or her father)
* The child lives with the biological mother (or other custodial relative such as grandmother) in the metropolitan Chicago area.
* These fathers are referred to as AA non-resident fathers. Additional criteria include: (1) child's mother is willing to consent to complete the child assessments; - Child's mother is amenable to facilitating opportunities for fathers to interact with their children in order to practice skills learned in the program
* Father is able and willing to travel to one of two intervention sites to attend a weekly program.
* The study is limited to fathers with a target child aged 2-5 years.
* The rationale for this limit is based on the developmental phase when families are most vulnerable to decreased father involvement and children are highly dependent on parenting for their growth and development.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Fathers with histories of child abuse, neglect, or violence perpetuated against the child or the child's mother (based on mother or father report).

Primary outcomes:
measure: Father Involvement as Measured by the Fragile Families Survey - Father Report
timeFrame: Mean/Standard Error (SE) at Baseline, 12, and 24 weeks
measure: Father Involvement as Measured by the Julion Index of Paternal Involvement - Father Report
timeFrame: Change from baseline to 12 and 24 weeks
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Taylor Inventory of Self-Esteem (Positive)
timeFrame: Mean/SE at Baseline, 12, and 24 weeks
measure: Taylor Inventory of Self-Esteem (Negative)
timeFrame: Baseline, 12, and 24 weeks
measure: Perceived Stress Scale (Negative)
timeFrame: Baseline, 12, and 24 weeks
measure: Perceived Stress Scale (Positive)
timeFrame: Baseline, 12, and 24 weeks
measure: Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale
timeFrame: Baseline, 12, and 24 weeks
measure: Parenting Sense of Competence Scale (Satisfaction)
timeFrame: Baseline, 12, and 24 weeks
measure: Parenting Sense of Competence Scale (Self-Efficacy)
timeFrame: Baseline, 12, and 24 weeks
measure: Parent Behavior Checklist (Discipline)
timeFrame: Baseline, 12, and 24 weeks
measure: Parent Behavior Checklist (Nurturing)
timeFrame: Baseline, 12, and 24 weeks
measure: Parent Behavior Checklist (Expectations)
timeFrame: Baseline, 12, and 24 weeks
measure: Quality of Relationship Inventory (Support)
timeFrame: Baseline, 12, and 24 weeks
measure: Quality of Relationship Inventory (Conflict)
timeFrame: Baseline, 12, and 24 weeks
measure: Quality of Relationship Inventory (Depth)
timeFrame: Baseline, 12, and 24 weeks
measure: Behavior Assessment System for Children 3rd Ed (Aggression)
timeFrame: Baseline, 12, and 24 weeks
measure: Behavior Assessment System for Children 3rd Ed (Attention)
timeFrame: Baseline, 12, and 24 weeks
measure: Behavior Assessment System for Children 3rd Ed (Depression)
timeFrame: Baseline, 12, and 24 weeks
measure: Behavior Assessment System for Children 3rd Ed (Hyperactivity)
timeFrame: Baseline, 12, and 24 weeks
measure: Tolerance For Disagreement
timeFrame: Baseline, 12, and 24 weeks
measure: Personal Problem Solving Inventory - Efficacy
timeFrame: Baseline, 12, and 24 weeks
measure: Personal Problem Solving Inventory - Skills
timeFrame: Baseline, 12, and 24 weeks
Other outcomes:
measure: Building Bridges To Fatherhood (BBTF) Social Context Validity
timeFrame: 9 weeks post baseline
Locations:
city: Chicago
country: United States
facility: Rush University Medical Center
state: Illinois
Study officials:
affiliation: Rush University
name: Wrenetha Julion, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Julion WA, Breitenstein SM, Waddell D. Fatherhood intervention development in collaboration with African American non-resident fathers. Res Nurs Health. 2012 Oct;35(5):490-506. doi: 10.1002/nur.21492. Epub 2012 Jun 8.
citation: Julion W, Gross D, Barclay-McLaughlin G, Fogg L. "It's not just about MOMMAS": African-American non-resident fathers' views of paternal involvement. Res Nurs Health. 2007 Dec;30(6):595-610. doi: 10.1002/nur.20223.
citation: Julion WA, Sumo J, Bounds DT, Breitenstein SM, Schoeny M, Gross D, Fogg L. Study protocol for a randomized clinical trial of a fatherhood intervention for African American non-resident fathers: Can we improve father and child outcomes? Contemp Clin Trials. 2016 Jul;49:29-39. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2016.05.005. Epub 2016 May 28.
citation: Julion WA, Sumo J, Bounds DT. A tripartite model for recruiting African-Americans into fatherhood intervention research. Public Health Nurs. 2018 Sep;35(5):420-426. doi: 10.1111/phn.12411. Epub 2018 May 9.
citation: Julion W, Sumo J, Schoeny ME, Breitenstein SM, Bounds DT. Recruitment, Retention, and Intervention Outcomes from the Dedicated African American Dad (DAAD) Study. J Urban Health. 2021 Oct;98(Suppl 2):133-148. doi: 10.1007/s11524-021-00549-8. Epub 2021 Jul 1.