THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL SUPPORT SKILL TRAINING ON DAILY INTERACTIONS AMONG PARENTS AT RISK FOR CHILD MALTREATMENT

This study assessed the impact of a 17-week social support skill train ing (SSST) intervention on daily interactions among Canadian parents m andated for comprehensive agency treatment by child protection officia ls. A nonrandomized pretest-posttest design was used to compare outcom es of 22 ''experimental'' parents receiving SSST with 16 ''control'' p arents participating in a standard agency discussion group. The ANCOVA results on parent-collected data indicated few significant difference s, suggesting confirmation of the null hypothesis. However, experiment al parents did report significantly higher proportions of contacts wit h formal service providers and people known from organizations, and mo re conversations about finances and fewer about housework then did con trol parents after intervention. Though nonsignificant, experimental p arents also reported increases in ''quick contacts'', self-initiated i nteractions, and child-related topics. Consistent patterns over time a nd across study conditions in the social ''ecology'' of these parents' daily lives suggest additional research is needed on contextual varia bles that influence social interaction among parents of young children .