Dare to be You
Dare to be You (DTBY) aims to reduce the likelihood of adolescent substance misuse by promoting family resilience in at-risk families with a child between the ages of two and five years old.
Families meet for 10 to 12 weekly sessions over three or four months for two hours of string-activity workshops plus a family meal.
EIF Programme Assessment
Child outcomes
This programme can affect outcomes for children in Active and healthy, physical and mental wellbeing.
According to the best available evidence for this programme's impact, it can achieve the following positive outcomes for children:
Enhancing school achievement & employment
Improved child developmental level
based on study 1
Preventing crime, violence and antisocial behaviour
Reduced problematic behaviour
based on study 1
This programme also has evidence of supporting positive outcomes for couples, parents or families that may be relevant to a commissioning decision. Please see About the evidence for more detail.
Who is it for?
The best available evidence for this programme relates to the following age-groups:
Toddlers Preschool
How is it delivered?
The best available evidence for this programme relates to implementation through these delivery models:
- Group
Where is it delivered?
The best available evidence for this programme relates to its implementation in these settings:
- Children's centre or early-years setting
- Primary school
- Secondary school
- Sixth-form or FE college
- Community centre
How is it targeted?
The best available evidence for this programme relates to its implementation as:
- Targeted selective
Where has it been implemented?
- United States
Ireland provision
Ireland evaluation
About the programme
What happens during the delivery?
How is it delivered?
- Dare to be You is led by two preschool teachers who lead groups of families for 10 to 12 weekly sessions, over three or four months, of two-hour workshops that include a family meal. The sessions are offered during the duration of a preschool programme and booster sessions can be included at the end.
What happens during the intervention?
- Dare to be You is led by two preschool teachers who lead groups of families for 10 to 12 weekly sessions, over three or four months, of two-hour workshops that include a family meal. The sessions are offered during the duration of a preschool programme and booster sessions can be included at the end.
- Parents and their children attend the programme together.
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The parent component focuses on personal and parenting efficacy, stress management, child development, and home management skills based on the four ‘Dare to be You’ principles:
- Decision-making and problem-solving skills
- Assertiveness in communication and conflict management
- Responsibility for one's behavior, including internalised control and stress management
- Esteem for oneself (eg self-efficacy) and others.
- The child component builds cognitive skills, mastery motivation, social competencies, emotional knowledge and problem solving, decision making, self-management and communication skills. A key topic is covered at each workshop with developmentally appropriate activities for all ages.
- The family component includes weekly family meals, social time and joint parent-child activities.
- An incentive programme enhances recruitment and encourages programme completion, including family meals, a supportive, non-judgmental environment that builds on family strengths and a financial incentive for completion of all workshops ($200 for each adult family member that completes the programme).
What are the implementation requirements?
Who can deliver it?
What are the training requirements?
How are the practitioners supervised?
What are the systems for maintaining fidelity?
- Fidelity monitoring
- Face-to-face training
- Training manual
Is there a licensing requirement?
There is no licence required to run this programme.
How does it work? (Theory of Change)
How does it work?
- Dare to Be You aims to increase children’s readiness to learn by teaching parents and children skills that promote children’s mastery motivation and behavior self-regulation.
- Parents learn methods for encouraging children’s prosocial behavior and supporting their cognitive development. Parents also learn age-appropriate strategies for limiting unwanted child behaviours.
- Children engage in activities aimed at increasing their persistence in difficult tasks and interacting positively with other children.
- In the short term, parents show increased self-efficacy, an increase in positive parenting practices and a decrease in harsh discipline. Children show increased mastery motivation and reduced oppositional behavior.
- In the long term, children are less likely to engage in risky behaviours and achieve well at school.
Intended outcomes
Contact details
David MacPhee
Colorado State University
david.macphee@colostate.edu
Aimee K. Walker
Colorado State University
aimee.walker@colostate.edu
http://dtby.colostate.edu/
http://legacy.nreppadmin.net/ViewIntervention.aspx?id=65
http://www.childtrends.org/programs/dare-to-be-you/
http://www.theathenaforum.org/sites/default/files/DARE%20to%20Be%20You%203-27-12.pdf
About the evidence
Dare to be You’s most rigorous evidence comes a single RCT which was conducted in the USA.
This study identified statistically significant positive impact on a number of child and parent outcomes.
This programme is underpinned by one study with a Level 2+, hence the programme receives a Level 2+rating overall.
Study 1
| Citation: | Miller-Heyl et al (1998) |
| Design: | RCT |
| Country: | United States |
| Sample: | 802 parents with a child between two and five attending Head Starts in the southwestern USA |
| Timing: | Post-test; one-year follow-up; two-year follow-up |
| Child outcomes: |
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| Other outcomes: |
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| Study rating: | 2+ |
Miller-Heyl, J., MacPhee, D., & Fritz, J.J. (2003). DARE to be You: A Family-support, early prevention program, The Journal of Primary Prevention. 18, 257-285.
Available at
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1024602927381
Study design and sample
The first study is an RCT.
This study involved random assignment of children to a DTBY treatment group and a control group.
This study was conducted in the US, with a sample of parents and children aged between 2 and 5 years of age attending Head Start preschools at four separate sites involving at-risk, native American/Hispanic populations. 50.8% of the participants earned less than $15,000 in annual income.
Measures
Parental self-perceived competence and satisfaction with the parental role were measured using two scales from the Self-Perceptions of the Parental role (SPPR) (parent report). Parent locus of control was measured using the IPC (Internal, Powerful Others, and Chance) Scale (parent report). Parental causal attributions (lack of ability, lack of effort, situational, child blame) were measured using vignettes (parent report). Child-rearing attitudes (Limit setting, Autonomy, Communication, Stress) were measured using the Parent-Child relationship inventory (PCRI) (parent report). Child-rearing practices (Harsh Punishment, Rational Guidance) were measured using 12 researcher-developed questions (parent report).
Child oppositional behaviour and problem behaviour were measured using the Behaviour Checklist for Infants and Children (BCIC) (parent report). Child developmental level was measured using the Minnesota Child Development Inventory (MCDI) (parent report).
Findings
This study identified statistically significant positive impact on a number of child and parent outcomes.
Child outcomes include:
- Reduced problematic behaviour
- Improved developmental level
The conclusions that can be drawn from this study are limited by methodological issues pertaining to unclear differential attrition, baseline equivalence, and intent-to-treat analysis, hence why a higher rating is not achieved.