Improvements in Unmarried African American Parents' Rapport, Communication, and Problem‐Solving Following a Prenatal Coparenting Intervention

• Author: Michael D. Coovert,James P. McHale,Selin Salman‐Engin
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12147
• Published date: 01 December 2015
• Date: 01 December 2015

Improvements in Unmarried African American

Parents’ Rapport, Communication, and

Problem-Solving Following a Prenatal

Coparenting Intervention

JAMES P. MCHALE*

SELIN SALMAN-ENGIN

†

MICHAEL D. COOVERT

‡

This report examines effects of a coparenting intervention designed for and delivered to

expectant unmarried African American mothers and fathers on observed interaction

dynamics known to predict relationship adjustment. Twenty families took part in the six-

session “Figuring It Out for the Child” (FIOC) dyadic intervention offered in a faith-based

human services agency during the third trimester of the mother’s pregnancy, and com-

pleted a postpartum booster session 1 month after the baby’s arrival. Parent referrals for

the FIOC program were received from a county Health Department and from OBGYNs and

Pregnancy Centers in the targeted community. All intervention sessions were delivered by

a trained male–female paraprofessional team whose fidelity to the FIOC manualized cur-

riculum was independently evaluated by a team of trained analysts. At both the point of

intake (“PRE”) and again at an exit evaluation completed 3 months postpartum (“POS T”),

the mothers and fathers were videotaped as they completed two standardized “reveal ed dif-

ferences” conflict discussions. Blinded videotapes of these sessions were evaluated using

the System for Coding Interactions in Dyads. Analyses documented statistically significant

improvements on 8 of 12 variables examined, with effect sizes ranging from moderate to

large.Overall, 14 families demonstrated beneficial outcomes, 3 did not improve, and 3

showed some signs of decline from the point of intake. For most interaction processes, PRE

to POST improvements were unrelated to degree of adherence the paraprofessional inter-

ventionists showed to the curriculum. However, better interventionist competence was

related to decreases in partners’ Coerciveness and Negativity and Conflict, and to smaller

increases in partner Withdrawal. Implications of the work for development and delivery of

community-based coparenting interventions for unmarried parents are discussed.

*University of South Florida St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, FL.

†

Psychology Department, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey.

‡

University of South Florida, Tampa, FL.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to James P. McHale, Director, Family Study

Center, University of South Florida St. Petersburg, 140 Seventh Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701;

E-mail: jmchale@mail.usf.edu.

Work on this project was supported by a grant from the Brady Education Foundation. We thank Mt.

Zion Human Services and the Pinellas County Health Department for their partnership on this project;

Mari Kittle, Jessica Gordon, Rashid Mizell, Eric Armstrong, and Florence Guillett for their efforts in

recruitment, family interviews, and assessments; Kyle DePalma for database management and support;

the interventionists, supervisors, and Family Study Center staff who helped participant families feel

welcome and valued; and above all, the families who provided a deeply personal glimpse into their lives.

This work, and the impact it stands to make in our field, would have been impossible without them and

their commitment to and vision for their children. No author has any conflict of interest related to this

article.

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Family Process, Vol. 54, No. 4, 2015 ©2015 Family Process Institute

doi: 10.1111/famp.12147