Progress 09/01/11 to 07/31/13
Outputs
Target Audience: The target audience included two separate groups of parents. Study 1 involved 113 parents of 1-year olds and 99 parents of 2-year olds who had beeen participating in an ongoing Extension program (Just in Time Parenting) that involved electronically delivering age-paced parenting information via email reminders that had links to web-based content. Study 2 involved a group of parents from 6 rural southern Illinois counties noted for high levels of poverty. This group included 37 expectant parents, 46 parents of 1-year olds, and 26 parents of 2-year olds. Changes/Problems: Staff changes requires additional time for subject recruitment. A no-cost extension was requested and granted. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? We have conducted the following training and professional development opportunities: Ebata, A.T., Nelson, P.T., & Kelly, J. (2013). Reaching a New Generation of Mobile Parents “Just in Time”. Paper presented at the Joint Council of Extension Professionals Galaxy Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, September 17, 2013. Abell, E., Soaterna-Castaneda, L., Nelson, P.T., & Ebata, A.T. (2013). Text4baby & Just In Time Parenting: Using Technology to Broaden Parent Engagement and Increase Impact with Parents of Young Children. National training webinar for Extension professionals, October 10, 2013. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Please see training and professional development above. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
For Objective 1, the project collected data from 214 current JITP parent participants out of the 903 who were eligible ( 24% response rate). Initial analysis has shown that JITP is considered one of the most useful sources of information used in the previous year, and a source that is highly likely to be used "right now". More detailed analyses are being planned to distinguish characteristics of parents who seemed to benefit the most from the program. To address Objective 2 we analyzed Google Analytics data and statistics from the email delivery program to examine how current participants were using the system. We also evaluated how current JITP parents were accessing our information and kinds of devices that were being used. We also examined the kinds of sources of information our rural sample of parents used and preferred, how they accessed web-based information and the devices they used, as well as the typical kinds of online activities they participated in. We found that certain types of digital information (i.e., websites) were more likely to be used than others (e.g., online classes or educational text-messaging), that a significant number of parents used phones to access online information (especially low-income rural parents), and that social networking activities were a daily activity (again especially among low-income rural parents). This suggested the need for web content to be optmized for delivery to mobile devices, and the need to incorporate stragegies to leverage social media. We have collected data to address Objective 3 from 109 rural parents who tend to have much lower incomes than our JITP sample. Approximately half of the sample indicated wanting to subscribe to the JITP program, and we have just begun to conduct analyses to identify characteristics of those who are more likely to select electronic (versus more tranditional) sources of information to learn more about children and parenting. The early results have enabled us to establish goals for revising the existing JITP delivery system, and we have developed a new mobile delivery system that (a) uses responsive design to optimize web content for mobile delivery, and (b) incorporates social media sharing functions so parents can easily share information as part of what might be their typical online behavior.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2012
Citation:
Hughes, R., Jr., Bowers, J.R., Mitchell, E.T., Curtiss, S., and Ebata, A.T. Developing online family life prevention and education programs. Family Relations, 61, 711-727.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Ebata, A.T., Martin, S., Bowers, J., Curtiss, S., Izenstark, D., and Kim, Y. Parents use of traditional and digital sources of information and advice. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the National Council on Family Relations, San Antonio, TX.
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Progress 09/01/11 to 08/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The objectives of the study were to [1] evaluate the effectiveness of an existing electronic delivery system for promoting positive parenting (Study 1), [2] identify individual, familial, and community factors among rural parents that predict the use of electronic media for parenting information and that may serve as mediators that influence the overall effectiveness of the program (Study 2), and [3] identify potential program changes and practices that may increase the use and effectiveness of the electronic delivery system in rural areas. For Objective 1 we have collected data from 183 parents of the 903 who were eligible as of 12/13/12 (a 22% response rate), which is 73% of the target of 250 participants. This sample is highly educated (83% have college degrees) and relatively affluent (58% have family incomes of at least $70,000/yr). For Objective 2, we have collected data from 82 parents of the 151 who were eligible as of 12/13/12 (a 59% response rate), which is 27% of the target of 300 participants. The sample thus far has lower family incomes (56% make less than $20,000/year) and is less educated (only 24% have college degrees) than those sampled for Study 1. For Objective 3, we have developed requirements for a new electronic delivery system (based on a literature review and analysis of usage patterns of the existing system) that incorporates "responsive design" for optimal use on mobile platforms. Products include a preliminary version of a new electronic delivery system that will be used by the eXtension Just In Time Parenting community of practice. The system includes (a) a content management system that can be managed by collaborators at multiple institutions, and (b) allows the delivery of multimedia content to mobile platforms. Dissemination activities have included a published paper that summarizes some of the findings from literature reviews conducted to achieve Objective 3. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals working on the project included: Aaron Ebata (P.I.), Kathleen Santa Ana (Evaluation Coordinator), Jill Bowers (Graduate assistant and Site coordinator), Dawn Owens-Nicholson (Evaluation specialist), Brenda Koester (Program Coordinator), Sally Martin (Research consultant), and Samuel Lindsey (Web evaluation consultant). Partner organizations included the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Research Board (funding for participant incentives) and the UIUC Family Resiliency Center, Department of Human & Community Development (space and equipment), and the UIUC Applied Technologies for Learning in the Arts and Sciences (ATLAS) group (space, equipment, in-kind consultation). Collaborators included the eXtension Just in Time Parenting evaluation team, University of Illinois Extension County Units in Southern Illinois, regional Child Care Resource services in Southern Illinois, state public health/WIC offices, area high schools, day care centers and preschools (including Headstart). TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audience for Study 1 were existing subscribers to the eXtension Just in Time Parenting electronic newsletter program who had children who had turned 1 or 2 years old during the project period. Analysis of the sample thus far shows that respondents were from 32 different states, and were primarily mothers (96%) who were primarily white (85%), well-educated (84% had at least a college degree), and relatively affluent (41% had family incomes of $80,000 or more). Participants recruited for Study 2 were also primarily mothers (94%) who were white (81%) but were less educated (only 24% had college degrees) and had lower incomes (only 6% had family incomes over $80,000; most (56%) had family incomes less than $20,000). The project did not implement and evaluate an intervention or educational effort. However, Study 1 was designed to evaluate an existing educational effort by the eXtension Just In Time Parenting community of practice that involved the electronic distribution of age-paced newsletters monthly between the time a child was born and their first birthday, and then bi-monthly between their first and second birthday. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Because of hiring delays and challenges in recruiting participants in rural areas for Study 2, a 3-month, no-cost extension was requested and granted for a project end date of 12/31/12. Another no-cost extension is being requested to continue recruiting participants to achieve the target goals. Recruitment of eligible parents for Study 2 was extremely difficult due to: (1) the relatively narrow eligibility criteria that was originally used; (2) difficulty in reaching parents because of the relative lack of agencies and organizations that serve parents; and (3) the relatively sparse population in the targeted counties. The previous eligibility criteria required that all participants were expecting their first child (for expecting parents), or were reporting on only or first children (for parents of 1- and 2-year olds). We were also trying to control for when surveys were completed (third trimester for expecting parents, and within 1 month before or after the child's 1st or 2nd birthday). In order to increase the number of participants, the following changes were made: (1) The eligibility requirements were "relaxed" so that any expectant parent (even if they had other children) during any trimester is now eligible to participate, and any parent who had a child that was about 1 or 2 years old (would not have to be an only or oldest child) is now eligible to participate; (2) the study was expanded to include two additional counties (Clay and Williamson) that were adjacent to the 4 counties that were already being used. Both counties fall within the same NCHS Urban-Rural classification codes as the original counties.
Impacts
The project is still in data collection phase, so data has not yet been analyzed.
Publications
- Hughes, R.H., Bowers, J.R., Thomann Mitchell, E., Curtiss, S.L. and Ebata, A.T. 2012. Developing online family life prevention and education programs. Family Relations, 61, 711-727.
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