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The Nurturing Program: An Intervention for Parents of Children with Special Needs

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Abstract

Evidence-based psychosocial family interventions enhancing empathy and empowerment are particularly beneficial to families of children who have developmental disabilities. This study assessed the effectiveness of an intervention called the Nurturing Program for Parents and Their Children with Special Needs and Health Challenges (SNHC). Eighty-seven families were enrolled and randomly assigned to a control or treatment group. Forty-six families in the control group received individualized case management (CM) services and forty-one families in the treatment group were assigned to 12 sessions of the SNHC curriculum along with case management services. Before and after the intervention, participants in both conditions completed the Adult and Adolescent Parenting Index-2 assessing parents’ attitudes toward child rearing and the Family Empowerment Scale (FES) measuring family empowerment. Caregivers in the intervention condition improved in empathy towards children’s needs, F(1, 54) = 4.52, p = .04; and all families, both control group and treatment group, improved their attitudes towards the use of corporal punishment by posttest, F(1, 54) = 6.56, p = .013. Also, all caregivers increased in their empowerment over the course of the intervention, F(1, 50) = 13.28, p = .001. Attrition, 22–26% among CM and 51–56% among SNHC+CM, limited generalizability as did participants not completing all SNHC sessions. Despite these limitations, findings suggest that early interventions catering to families of children with developmental disabilities have a positive impact on parenting. To varying degrees, both conditions provided caregivers with tools that positively affected the quality of the parent–child relationships and promoted empowerment.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to offer special thanks to the families who participated and made this study possible. We would like to recognize Dr. Stephen J. Bavolek, and Michelle Tryon for contributing to the curricula development, as well as acknowledge Donna LaTour-Elefante posthumously. Our appreciation goes also to all case managers and parent educators for assisting with implementation and delivery of the curricula; as well as to the many students and staff who made this work possible. This study was funded by a grant from The DHHS, Administration for Children & Families, Administration for Developmental Disabilities. Grant ID 90DN0276 PND Family Support and Community Access.

Author Contributions

R.S.B participated in the design of the study and assumed the primary role in writing the paper. J.Z.C conducted the data analysis and contributed to writing the paper. C.M and H.H. designed and participated in the execution of the study and contributed to writing the paper; L.G.F. and N.A participated in the execution of the study and contributed to writing the paper.

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  1. Laura G. Farley & Nancy Amodei

    Present address: Department of Community Initiatives and Population Health, University Health System, San Antonio, TX, 78229, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, 78229, USA

    Rosalinda Strano Burton, Laura G. Farley & Nancy Amodei

  2. Department of Psychology, St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, TX, 78229, USA

    Jennifer Zwahr-Castro

  3. Respite Care of San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, 78229, USA

    Cara L. Magrane

  4. Any Baby Can of San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, 78229, USA

    Hugo Hernandez

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  1. Rosalinda Strano Burton
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Correspondence to Rosalinda Strano Burton.

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The authors of the study have no conflict of interest to disclose and the study adheres to all federal regulations and guidelines for the protection of human subjects.

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The study was approved as exempt by the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Institutional Review Board-Human Subjects Committee. Exempt determination was made under DHHS Regulation 45 CFR 46.101(b)(5).

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All participants provided written informed consent prior to participation.

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Burton, R.S., Zwahr-Castro, J., Magrane, C.L. et al. The Nurturing Program: An Intervention for Parents of Children with Special Needs. J Child Fam Stud 27, 1137–1149 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0966-3

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