Internet Stepparent Training for Parents of Adolescents

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This research will develop an interactive multi-media program to teach behavioral parenting skills to parents and partners in divorced families with adolescents. A competency-based instructional design will use video vignettes to test user comprehension of appropriate parenting strategies. Based upon user responses to interactive questions, video commentators will review potential outcomes and the implications of modeled behaviors, lauding effective behaviors and recommending better approaches if appropriate. The proposed program will deliver high-quality research-based parenting instruction to parents in divorced families who are unlikely to attend traditional parenting classes, or who do not have such resources available locally. The interface design will facilitate use by inexperienced computer users, and by parents with limited reading skills. The Phase I prototype will be designed for use on the Internet. It will be targeted to biological mothers in step-parenting relationships and will be evaluated in a randomized trial. In Phase II, the scope of the program will be broadened with targeted programs providing parenting skills and also addressing the perspectives and roles of fathers, stepmothers, stepfathers, and parents in blended families. The Phase II product will be developed for Internet, CD-ROM, and VHS, and will be evaluated in a randomized trial.