VI. A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL OF A PARENT MANAGEMENT TRAINING PROGRAM FOR INCARCERATED PARENTS: PROXIMAL IMPACTS

In this paper, we report on findings from the Parent Child Study, a randomized controlled trial that compared outcomes for incarcerated fathers and mothers assigned to PMT versus a "services as usual" control condition. The study was conducted in close collaboration with both the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) and a nonprofit service delivery agency with extensive experience working in the DOC, Pathfinders of Oregon. The PMT intervention, called Parenting Inside Out (PIO; Schiffman, Eddy, Martinez, Leve, & Newton, 2008) was designed for delivery to groups of incarcerated parents and was intended to provide parents with motivation, knowledge and skills relevant to their role in the prevention of the development of antisocial behavior and associated problem behaviors in their children. The development of the program is documented in Eddy et al. (2008). PIO is intended to be the first in a coordinated set of interventions that occur inside and outside of prisons with the purpose of improving outcomes for the children of incarcerated parents and their families. The current vision for this intervention set is described in Eddy, Kjellstrand, Martinez, and Newton (2010). The primary aim of the Parent Child Study was to examine the impact of PIO on incarcerated parents and their families. Here, we report on the most proximal outcomes for participants, after program completion and before release from prison, and specifically whether the intervention impacted indicators of three constructs in our theoretical model, parental adjustment, parent-caregiver relationship, and parenting.