A Prospective Validation Study of Inclination,Belief, and Context Predictors of Family-Focused Prevention Involvement

Prior research by the authors tested a model of factors influencing parent inclination to participate in parenting interventions. Family context, belief, attitude, and inclination to participate variables from this model were used to predict the actual participation of 1,121 families in assessment and intervention activities of a family-focused preventive intervention research project. Invitations to the project assessment and intervention components were, respectively, about 6 months and 10 months following the initiation of a telephone survey collecting predictor variable data. Logistic regression analyses examining each predictor individually showed that a number of family context, belief, attitude, and inclination variables were predictive of project participation. Subsequently, multiple logistic regressions were conducted, entering variables by blocks corresponding to theoretical model components. These analyses showed that prospectively stated inclination to participate in a parenting intervention and level of education were consistently significant predictors of both assessment participation and intervention enrollment. Implications for both research and practice are discussed.