xiii, 101 p. / Ensuring that psychological interventions are well received and effective among ethnically and culturally diverse groups is at the forefront of psychological research. This study is a nonexperimental, posttest evaluation of differences between European American and ethnocultural group parents' perceptions of the Family Check-Up (FCU), a family-centered, ecologically and community-based intervention that provides family assessment, support, and motivation to change for families coming to counseling. Research has demonstrated the effectiveness of the FCU but has yet to evaluate parent perceptions of the FCU. This study examines features of intervention implementation that lead to treatment satisfaction and adherence by evaluating parent perceptions of (a) the FCU intervention, (b) therapist interpersonal qualities, and (c) therapist multicultural competence. Both parent and observational coder ratings of the intervention were assessed along these dimensions. In the first year of a longitudinal study of the FCU, data were collected from parents of children who attended three public middle schools in a metropolitan area of the Pacific Northwest. Within-subjects analyses were conducted to assure measurement validation and treatment fidelity. A between-subjects multivariate analysis of variance was utilized to examine ethnocultural group differences. Results revealed that all measures demonstrated high internal consistency reliability, high interscale correlations, and good construct validity. Results revealed high interrater agreement between parent ratings of treatment receipt and coder ratings of treatment delivery, indicating treatment fidelity. Results revealed no statistically significant differences in parent perceptions of the FCU intervention, regardless of parent ethnocultural group. Additional analyses demonstrated that observational coders rated family consultants who worked with ethnocultural group parents higher in multicultural competence than those who worked with European American parents. In summary, study results suggest (a) that the measures developed and adapted for this investigation were reliable and valid, and (b) that we found no evidence of perceived differences in the FCU intervention across ethnocultural group and European American parents. The FCU continues to be an intervention that can be successfully implemented among ethnically and culturally diverse families. / Committee in charge: Dr. Benedict McWhirter, Chair; Dr. Elizabeth Stormshak, Member; Dr. Joseph Stevens, Member; Dr. Thomas Dishion, Outside Member

This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of filial therapy training in: (a) increasing immigrant Korean parents' empathic behavior with their children; (b) increasing immigrant Korean parents' acceptance level toward their children; and (c) reducing immigrant Korean parents' stress related to parenting.The experimental group, consisting of 17 immigrant Korean parents in the United States, received 10 weekly 2-hour filial therapy training sessions and participated in weekly 30-minute play sessions with one of their children. The control group, consisting of 15 immigrant Korean parents in the United States, received no treatment during the ten weeks. All the parents were videotaped playing with their child before and after the training as a means of measuring change in empathic behavior. The two written self-report instruments completed for pretesting and posttesting purposes were the Porter Parental Acceptance Scale and the Parenting Stress Index. Analyses of covariance revealed that the immigrant Korean parents in the experimental group had significant changes in 10 of 12 hypotheses, including (a) a significant increase in their level of empathic interactions with their children; (b) a significant increase in their attitude of acceptance toward their children; and (c) a significant reduction in their level of stress related to parenting. This study supports the use of filial therapy for promoting the parent-child relationship in immigrant Korean families in the United States. Filial therapy helps immigrant Korean parents to be therapeutic agents for their children. It helps them regain their own power as parents and restore positive relationships with their children.

The aims of this study were to examine a) whether the family-centered intervention method Auditory Verbal Therapy (AVT) has had an effect on the levels of empowerment of caregivers of children with CI; and b) whether the parents feeling most empowered have a continual habit of reading frequently with their child and have children who achieve higher scores on lexical-semantic tasks; c) whether the empowerment questionnaire “Att vara förälder” (“Being a parent”) is an appropriate assessment tool to evaluate intervention intending to empower the caregivers of children with hearing impairment. Vocabulary was used as a way to gauge the effectiveness of the method. Perceived empowerment of 23 parents was assessed with “Att vara förälder” (“Being a parent”) along with an informal conversation about the questionnaire. In addition, lexical-semantic ability of 11 children (age 5;1-11;8) was assessed with the BNT and the Semantic Feature Test for evaluation if the level of empowerment would affect vocabulary level. Overall the caregivers reported high levels of empowerment. Duration of intervention (range 6 months – 2 years or more) and levels of empowerment corresponded significantly positive. Further, a more active parent scored higher on empowerment than did the parent less active in intervention, as indicated by the self-reports. Qualitative data from the conversation revealed that many of the parents felt that the AVT intervention had helped them to feel more empowered. The results for lexical-semantic ability showed a large variability in the group, not significantly correlated to parents’ level of empowerment. The children older than eight years performed at stanine 5 and over on the BNT. The younger children did not score above stanine 4. In conclusion, the present study represents a first step towards applying empowerment as an instrument for the evaluation of family-centered intervention. Based on our results we argue that all children receiving a CI and their families would benefit from being provided with the possibility for prolonged intervention periods. / Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka a) om den familjebaserade interventionsmetoden Auditory Verbal Therapy (AVT) har haft effekt på känslan av empowerment hos föräldrar till barn med CI; och b) om de föräldrar med högst känsla av empowerment har som vana att ofta läsa för sina barn och har barn som presterar högt på testning av ordförråd; c) om enkäten ”Att vara förälder” är ett användbart verktyg för att utvärdera intervention som har som mål att öka känslan av empowerment hos vårdnadshavare till barn med hörselnedsättning. Bedömning av ordförråd användes som ett sätt att undersöka metodens effektivitet. 23 föräldrar fyllde i en empowerment-enkät ”Att vara förälder” och deltog sedan i ett informellt samtal med författarna till studien. Vidare bedömdes lexikal-semantisk förmåga hos 11 barn (ålder 5;1-11;8) med BNT och Särdragstestet med syfte att undersöka om nivån av empowerment påverkar ordförråd. Överlag hade vårdgivarna en hög känsla av empowerment. Interventions-längd (mellan 6 månader – 2 år eller mer) korrelerade signifikant positivt med empowerment. Därutöver framkom att den i interventionen mer aktiva föräldern erhöll ett högre resultat avseende empowerment, jämfört med den föräldern som varit mindre aktiv, enligt självskattningsdata. Kvalitativa data från det informella samtalet tydliggjorde att föräldrarna upplever att interventionen med AVT har förstärkt deras känsla av empowerment. Resultaten varierade stort vad gällde lexikal-semantisk förmåga, vilket inte korrelerade statistiskt med föräldrarnas nivå av empowerment. Barnen äldre än åtta år presterade stanine 5 eller över. De yngre barnen presterade inte över stanine 4. Sammanfattningsvis representerar denna studie ett första steg i ledet att implementera empowerment som ett utvärderingsinstrument i familjebaserad intervention. Baserat på resultaten i vår studie dras slutsatsen att alla barn som får CI skulle, tillsammans med sina familjer, gagnas av att få möjligheten till en långvarig familjebaserad interventionsinsats.