Program Aimed at Helping Members of the Guard and Reserve Transition to Parenthood
Family Foundations, an evidence-based, transition to parenthood program for couples, is testing an online, interactive version designed specifically for Guard and Reserve members.
State College, PA, July 2, 2014 (Newswire.com) - Family Foundations is an evidence-based family-strengthening program that focuses on easing the transition to parenthood. This civilian program has been adapted to meet the specific needs of National Guard and Reserve families. Most importantly, the Guard and Reserve adaptation is a fully interactive online version, making it easily accessible for families not located near active duty installations.
Evidence shows Family Foundations provides many benefits to new parents and children in the civilian population, including reduced postpartum depression, lower parental stress, decreased couple conflict and violence, and higher quality parenting. Children of these parents have shown better self-regulation, fewer behavior problems, and better school adjustment. The Family Foundations team expects this adaptation to yield similar outcomes. Please visit the website to see a list of additional benefits found in prior research trials.
This program has received international visibility and the research studies have been published in leading scientific journals. The United Kingdom government has funded the training of family educators across the country to deliver Family Foundations. In addition, the United States Department of Defense plans to start providing the face-to-face group version of Family Foundations to eligible active duty military families in 2014.
Family Foundations is currently seeking National Guard & Reserve couples who are (1) expecting their first child and (2) not expecting deployment within 6 months of starting the program. There is no cost to participate and compensation is available.
If you are interested in participating or would like more information, please contact Jamie Irvin by email at FamFound@psu.edu or by phone 814-867-4809. Additional information is also available on the website (http://familyfoundations.ssri.psu.edu/).
Family Foundations was developed by Dr. Mark Feinberg (http://prevention.psu.edu/people/feinberg_m.html) at Penn State University over the past decade, with funding provided by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This project is also being conducted at Penn State’s Prevention Research Center by Dr. Feinberg, with NIH funding.
