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Part II:
Status of Research-Based Programs
Early Childhood Programs
III. Dare To Be You (DTBY)
Jan Miller-Heyl, Davis MacPhee, and Janet J. Fritz
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
The authors emphasize that DTBY is not affiliated with Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.), the program offered through local law enforcement agencies. DTBY is funded by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.
Historically, DTBY has focused on children ages 5 to 18, their parents, and/or community professionals who work with them. Based on developmental theories of self-efficacy and family interaction theory, the program's "core assumption is that improved perceptions of parental self-efficacy result in family system interactions that foster resiliency in youth, in part because a strong sense of arental competence promotes consistent and supportive child-rearing ractices" (Miller-Heyl et al., 1998, p. 258). DTBY's major objective is to facilitate the development of youths' resiliency to substance use, but by virtue of how it does what it does, the beneficial effects are seen in many arenas. An evaluation of the original program found that "preadolescents increased significantly in resiliency factors such as internal locus of control, resistance to peer pressure, and decision making skills," plus they were less likely to use alcohol and tobacco (Miller-Heyl et al, 1998, p. 259).
Noting that "adolescent problems usually originate much earlier in development, often in families who are struggling to meet basic physical and emotional needs," the researchers agreed with other scholars in insisting that "early family intervention is essential if incipient problems are to be prevented," and that "prevention programs are most effective when they target multiple contexts--not just the child or parents but the community as well" (Miller-Heyl et al., 1998, p. 259 They then adapted the DTBY program for families of preschoolers, ages 2 to 5 years old. This adaptation consists several components, key among which are the following:
- Children's Program. Separate curricula were developed for the 2 to 3 year olds and the 4 to 5 year olds. Concepts taught to parents (such as "thumbs up, thumbs down") were incorporated into developmentally appropriate games and experiences that provided a common vocabulary to set and enforce norms. The researchers used the school-age DTBY curriculum for older siblings, and infant care was also available.
- Parents' Program. The researchers wrote a manual of activities for parents, with adaptations for different learning styles and cultures. The activities were designed to develop self-efficacy, self-esteem, internal locus of control, decision-making skills, effective reasoning, effective child-rearing strategies,
communication skills, stress management techniques, an understanding of developmental norms for children, and peer support. Parents also received $200 for completing the entire course and the evaluation materials, and a family meal was served at each session.
- Staff and Community Training. DTBY concepts were incorporated into the regular in-service training for day care or Head Start workers, plus a 15-hour training series was provided for community preschool teachers and other care givers. The community commitment to this program was evident in that several local agencies co-sponsored 15 to 18 hours of community team training for 18-35 volunteers at each site.
The program was tested at four sites, which varied in population density (urban, town,rural) and ethnic composition (Mountain Ute, Hispanic, and Anglo). Prevalence of risk factors in participating families are shown in Table 10.
Table 10. Prevalence of Risk Factors in Families Participating in DYTB
| Risk Factors |
Prevalence |
| School dropouts |
33.5% |
| Annual income $15,000 |
50.8% |
| Family history of substance abuse |
41.1% |
| Single parents or stepparents |
39.4% |
| Lived in a "community at risk,"
i.e., a community with a documented rate of substance
abuse above 90% of the population. |
22.6% |
Over a 5-year period, successive cohorts of families were randomly assigned to an experimental (n=496) or control (n=301) group. Families received a minimum of 24 hours of training with follow-up support. Key findings are as follows:
- The intervention group increased in self-efficacy and self-esteem, relative to no change in the control group, and these changes were still present at the 2-year follow-up. Increases in parental self-efficacy, which the researchers see as the key mechanism of change, correlated with greater use of democratic child-rearing practices, appropriate limit-setting, and decreased reliance upon physical punishment. Interestingly, participants who felt the least competent as parents initially benefited most from the intervention, and even parents whose self-efficacy scores decreased still learned effective child-rearing practices.
- Harsh punishment decreased, while effective discipline and limit setting increased through the year 2 follow-up, while scores for the control parents remained more stable over time. The magnitude of treatment impact grew larger with succeeding cohorts, and these changes in child rearing were evident regardless of family social class or social support.
- Parents in the intervention group showed decreases on the lack of ability to parent scores and in their tendency to blame their children, but no intervention/control differences emerged until the 2-year follow-up. Targeted children's developmental levels were enhanced, and oppositional behavior declined.
- The researchers had hoped that the parents' social network would increase as parents formed friendships with other participants. However, only support satisfaction showed a significant change between the pretest and the 1-year follow-up, with the intervention group increasing more than the control group. They concluded that "structural changes in these parents' social systems occur gradually, if at all" (Miller-Heyl et al., 1998, p. 278).
- Regarding locus of control, the belief that chance controls outcomes declined significantly for the treatment group between pretest and posttest and for both groups between pretest and subsequent follow-ups. The belief that powerful others control outcomes also declined, but not as consistently as did the belief in chance or fate. The researchers concluded that, overall, "the DTBY workshops had a minimal impact on locus of control" (Miller-Heyl et al., 1998, p. 278).
- Parents in both the intervention and control groups reported increases in stress levels over time, stating they were overburdened with child-rearing responsibilities and money problems. It is especially noteworthy that intervention parents showed trends toward increased education and income at the 1-year follow-up, but these effects had disappeared a year later. The authors speculate that the lack of impact on socioeconomic status may well explain the persistent levels of stress.
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