Abstract
Parenting and family interventions have repeatedly shown effectiveness in preventing and treating a range of youth outcomes. Accordingly, investigators in this area have conducted a number of studies using statistical mediation to examine some of the potential mechanisms of action by which these interventions work. This review examined from a methodological perspective in what ways and how well the family-based intervention studies tested statistical mediation. A systematic search identified 73 published outcome studies that tested mediation for family-based interventions across a wide range of child and adolescent outcomes (i.e., externalizing, internalizing, and substance-abuse problems; high-risk sexual activity; and academic achievement), for putative mediators pertaining to positive and negative parenting, family functioning, youth beliefs and coping skills, and peer relationships. Taken as a whole, the studies used designs that adequately addressed temporal precedence. The majority of studies used the product of coefficients approach to mediation, which is preferred, and less limiting than the causal steps approach. Statistical significance testing did not always make use of the most recently developed approaches, which would better accommodate small sample sizes and more complex functions. Specific recommendations are offered for future mediation studies in this area with respect to full longitudinal design, mediation approach, significance testing method, documentation and reporting of statistics, testing of multiple mediators, and control for Type I error.
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Work on this article was supported in part by NIGMS and NIDA of the National Institutes of Health under award numbers T32GM081740 and R01DA030349. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
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Appendix
Appendix
Mediators and outcomes assessed in studies of family-based interventions
Study | Mediator | Conduct problems | Substance use | Depression-related | Anxiety-related | High-risk sexual activity | Delinquency | Academic-related |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Forgatch and DeGarmo (1999) | PC | X | X | |||||
Vitaro et al. (1999) | D, DP | X | ||||||
Eddy and Chamberlain (2000) | PDPC | X | ||||||
Kolko et al. (2000) | FF, PCR | X | ||||||
Ennett et al. (2001) | PP, MS, PCC, PCR, AU | X | ||||||
Martinez and Forgatch (2001) | NP, PP | X | ||||||
Vitaro et al. (2001) | MS, D, DP | X | ||||||
CPPRG (2002) | NP, AA, CG, D | X | ||||||
Lochman and Wells (2002) | NP, CG | X | X | |||||
Dishion et al. (2003) | MS | X | ||||||
Tein et al. (2004) | PP, NCP, PCP, PCR | X | X | X | ||||
Beauchaine et al. (2005) | NP, PP | X | ||||||
DeGarmo and Forgatch (2005) | PP, DP | X | ||||||
Forgatch et al. (2005) | PP | X | ||||||
Brody et al. (2006) | YPFC | X | ||||||
Gardner et al. (2006) | PCN, PP, PMH | X | ||||||
Gerrard et al. (2006) | AU, ID | X | ||||||
Tein et al. (2006) | PP, PMH, AI, CB, CP, NT, YSE | X | X | X | ||||
Bernat et al. (2007) | PP, AA, SS | X | ||||||
Gardner et al. (2007) | PP | X | ||||||
Mason et al. (2007) | SU | X | ||||||
Prado et al. (2007) | FFC | X | X | |||||
Chamberlain et al. (2008) | PP | X | ||||||
Dishion et al. (2008) | PP | X | ||||||
Zhou et al. (2008) | PP, PCR | X | X | X | X | X | X | |
Brotman et al. (2009) | PC | X | ||||||
DeGarmo et al. (2009) | PS, D | X | ||||||
Forgatch et al. (2009) | PP, DP | X | ||||||
Fossum et al. (2009) | NP, PP | X | ||||||
Henderson et al. (2009) | MS, PCR | X | ||||||
Henggeler et al. (2009) | MS, NP, PCC, DP, PA | X | X | |||||
Jouriles et al. (2009) | NP, PMH | X | ||||||
Mason et al. (2009) | PC, PCR, SS | X | ||||||
Pantin et al. (2009) | FFC | X | X | X | ||||
Shaw et al. (2009) | PMH | X | ||||||
Spoth et al. (2009) | SU | X | ||||||
Compas et al. (2010) | NP, PP, CP | X | X | X | ||||
Gardner et al. (2010) | NP, PP | X | ||||||
McClain et al. (2010) | PP, PCR, YMH | X | X | X | X | X | X | |
Soper et al. (2010) | MS, CP, NT | X | X | |||||
Hagen et al. (2011) | PP, FF | X | ||||||
Koning et al. (2011) | AU, SC | X | ||||||
Murry et al. (2011) | PP, SN, YSE | X | ||||||
Bjørknes et al. (2012) | NP, PP | X | ||||||
Deković et al. (2012) | NP, PCN, PP, PCR | X | ||||||
Gonzales et al. (2012) | MS, NP, PP, FF, CP, SE | X | X | X | X | X | ||
Hutchings et al. (2012) | PMH, PP | X | ||||||
MVPP (2012) | MS, PP, FF | X | ||||||
Shelleby et al. (2012) | PP | X | ||||||
Somech and Elizur (2012) | NP, PMH | X | ||||||
Trudeau et al. (2012) | YMH | X | X | |||||
Van Ryzin and Dishion (2012) | FF | X | ||||||
Brennan et al. (2013) | PP | X | ||||||
Koning et al. (2013) | AU, SC, SU | X | ||||||
Punamäki et al. (2013) | CG | X | ||||||
Caruthers et al. (2013) | MS, PCR, SA | X | ||||||
Chang et al. (2014) | AI | X | ||||||
Fang and Schinke (2014) | PCR, YSE | X | ||||||
Fosco et al. (2014) | FF | X | ||||||
Gonzales et al. (2014) | SE | X | X | X | X | |||
Hanisch et al. (2014) | PC, PMH | X | ||||||
Jensen et al. (2014) | PCR | X | X | X | X | |||
McKee et al. (2014) | CG | X | X | |||||
Murry et al. (2014) | PP, AU | X | X | |||||
Perrino et al. (2014) | PCC | X | X | |||||
Solmeyer et al. (2014) | NCP, PCP | X | ||||||
Spoth et al. (2014) | SU | X | ||||||
Vermeulen-Smit et al. (2014) | MS, AU | X | ||||||
Brock et al. (2015) | PP | X | X | X | ||||
Ginsburg et al. (2015) | PMH, CG | X | ||||||
Reuben et al. (2015) | PMH | X | ||||||
Schoenfelder et al. (2015) | PP, YMH | X | ||||||
Trudeau et al. (2015) | SU | X |
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Patel, C.C., Fairchild, A.J. & Prinz, R.J. Potential Mediators in Parenting and Family Intervention: Quality of Mediation Analyses. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev 20, 127–145 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-016-0221-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-016-0221-2