Caring Families Research Project
Parents are inundated with advice about how to develop social-emotional skills and positive behaviors in their children. Yet there’s little evidence to show that parents can effectively use or put that advice into practice–and that their efforts will make an impact on both their children and themselves. This project sought to close this gap.
After several years of immersing ourselves in the research, talking with experts, designing, iterating, and pilot testing our strategies with parents and parent influencers, we completed a longitudinal evaluation of nine key strategies to promote empathy, gratitude, and diligence in children. Almost 300 parents (mostly moms; 56% white, 19% Black, 17% Hispanic; 65% some college) took our baseline survey in November 2021, and we sent them three follow-up surveys at 1-, 4- and 8-month increments. Close to 85% of parents continued to participate and we tracked things like dosage (how regularly parents did their strategies), fidelity (whether they did the strategies as we intended), and perceived impact (how beneficial parents thought the strategies were for them and their children). We also conducted a total of almost 60 interviews throughout the study and systematically analyzed both the interview data and hundreds of open-ended survey data responses.
“He has become more grateful and sees that it’s important to show you appreciate what someone else is doing for you. It’s not something that I focused on before, so the benefit is him recognizing that it’s important to acknowledge and show gratitude to other people...”
Key Findings, as reported by parents/caregivers:
At least 80% (of parents) said they tried out their strategy each time we surveyed them, and at least 80% reported high fidelity (i.e., following content as intended).
At least 75% said they found their strategies enjoyable and the vast majority rated them as high in quality (e.g., clear, easy to understand and implement, age-appropriate, and beneficial).
Dosage and parents’ reports of child enjoyment showed more variability, with parents citing several big barriers, like remembering to do it or finding the right time to engage their child, as well as strategy-specific issues, like the need for more practical examples and variation.
As expected (and consistent with implementation literature more generally), parents who said they and their children enjoyed their strategy were more likely to report higher dosage and fidelity. Parent enjoyment also predicted takeup (or trying out their strategy at least every month).
Demographic or background characteristics like race or education levels didn’t seem to matter for how much or how well parents tried out the strategies; income or socioeconomic status seemed to play more of a role (for example, parents who said they work were less likely to try out the strategies regularly).
Almost 60% of parents said their child improved in their given virtue or skill (empathy, gratitude, hard work) and about 50% said they improved themselves. When asked if their children could improve with more time, close to 70% agreed.
We heard from parents that they felt a very real impact in their lives. Based on questions about what they learned from and liked most about their strategies, the main themes included: (1) learning about their child or coming to appreciate their child in a new way, (2) seeing improvements in their child’s skills and behaviors related to the virtue, (3) having more appreciation for and understanding of their virtue, (4) gaining new knowledge about how to raise their child(ren) and how to be more supportive as a parent, and (5) seeing a sizable improvement in their parent-child relationship.
Across the virtues, at least 85% of parents said they intend to use their strategy in the future, and almost 90% said they have been able to integrate key ideas or suggestions from their strategy into their family routines.
Contact
Milena Batanova
milena_batanova@gse.harvard.edu
Developing Gratitude
Developing Empathy
Building Diligence and Grit
