Iowa State University

Virginia Molgaard

The purpose of Project Family is to conduct research directed toward the evaluation, refinement, and diffusion of interventions designed to increase the proportions of competent caregivers and youth in targeted general populations. This purpose is accomplished through university-school-community partnerships that contribute to research-practice integration. Project Family consists of a series of interrelated investigations addressing four goals across several phases of intervention research. 

• To conduct needs assessments for preventive interventions, through surveys of the prevalence of protective and risk factors for youth problems 
• To examine factors influencing parent and youth participation in preventive interventions
•  To evaluate the efficacy of family and youth competency-training interventions, in both majority and nonmajority populations, using findings to clarify intervention-related change mechanisms
• To develop strategies for diffusion of empirically-supported family and youth interventions through university-school-community collaboration

Initially funded in the fall of 1991, Project Family's flagship study has been supported by five competitive grants from the National Institutes of Health. It started with a controlled pilot study in 1992. Beginning with families of 5th graders in 1993, a subsequent longitudinal efficacy study has since been extended to include data collection from participating families during their child's senior year in high school. Two family-focused preventive interventions are being evaluated as part of that study, namely, the Iowa Strengthening Families Program and the Preparing for the Drug Free Years Program. To date, funding has been received to support the study for 11 years.

The Capable Families and Youth (CaFaY) project is a recent addition to longitudinal Project Family studies. The project includes both family- and school-based interventions, evaluating whether a combination of school- and family-focused interventions is more effective than a school-based intervention alone.

Another longitudinal outcome recently undertaken examines an adaptation of the Iowa Strengthening Families Program for African-American Families. This study is part of a larger investigation at the institute - the Family and Community Health Study. It extends project efforts to improve understanding of methods for culturally-competent adaptations of interventions for minority populations. This work began with efforts designed to adapt interventions and intervention assessment methods for Native Americans.

Key Findings and Contributions. Since the initiation of Project Family in 1991, a number of key results and conclusions have emerged that address each of the four primary Project goals.

Needs assessment research -

•  The level of need for preventive interventions in Iowa varies across household sociodemographic and other factors, as indicated by measures of household survey respondent risk and protective factors.
• Needs assessment data has been very useful in guiding plans for state-funded prevention service delivery.

Family participation factors -

• Parents consider teen problem behaviors to be serious, but believe their own children to be at low risk for developing such problems.
• Parents view prevention programs for families as beneficial and research on such programs as worthwhile-the primary barriers to their participation are practical ones, such as time demands and schedule conflicts.
•  Successfully engaging families in brief preventive interventions requires effective community partnerships and substantial resources for recruitment and retention.

 Intervention efficacy -

•  Literature reviews conducted for Project Family reveal that preventive interventions for families and youth are widely disseminated, but rarely subjected to rigorous evaluation.
• Brief family-focused interventions can positively change parenting behaviors directly targeted by the interventions which, in turn, positively influence parent-child affective quality and child management practices.
• Brief family-focused interventions can reduce substance use and other conduct problems, as long as four years following posttest.

Strategies for diffusion of interventions -

• Collaboration with ISU Extension can greatly enhance the quality of NIH-funded research and can bring national recognition to Extension programming.
• A Project Family model for Extension-assisted university-school-community partnerships can serve to strengthen collaboration among land-grant universities.

The 54 manuscripts and publications produced by the project since 1993 have addressed a wide range of family-focused preventive intervention research topics. Other accomplishments by Project Family and its personnel are also noteworthy.

• The Project has secured well over $22 million in grants, primarily from the National Institutes of Health; in 1998, a MERIT award from NIDA is one of only three ever awarded for a preventive intervention research project 
• Since 1993, project staff have made 52 presentations at professional meetings 
• The project staff have participated in a large number of expert panels or technical advisory groups, primarily for federal agencies, the project director participated in 20 such panels or groups
• Since 1997, the Iowa adaptation of the Strengthening Families Program has been recognized by three federal agencies, based upon positive findings from Project research; the Project supported the program's development and refinement. Through ISU Extension, this program has been offered to families in almost one-half of Iowa's counties and in a number of other states.

Future Outlook. In the eight years that have passed since the project inception in 1991, a productive and respected program of preventive intervention research has been developed. In future years, project researchers hope to continue the tradition of research productivity and facilitate its application to prevention practice. Toward this end, the most important Project Family effort to date is recently underway in the form of a proposal. The goal of the proposal is to study the diffusion of empirically-supported family and youth programs through university-school-community collaborations, assisted by the national Extension system.

                EDUCATION:        

                DISSERTATION TITLE:  "Conceptual and Methodological Issues in Family Health and Stress Research"

                POSITIONS HELD:

                        2001 – present           Emeritus Associate Professor
                                                          Department of Human Development and Family Studies
                                                          College of Family and Consumer Sciences
                                                          Iowa State University
                                                          Ames, IA 50011

                       1992-2001                 Associate Professor
                                                          Family Life Specialist for Cooperative Extension
                                                          Department of Human Development and Family Studies
                                                          College of Family and Consumer Sciences
                                                          Iowa State University
                                                          Ames, IA 50011

                       1990-1992                 Assistant Professor
                                                          Family Life Specialist for Cooperative Extension
                                                          Department of Human Development and Family Studies
                                                          College of Family and Consumer Sciences
                                                          Iowa State University
                                                          Ames, IA  50011

                       1985-1990                 Assistant Professor
                                                          Family Life Specialist for Cooperative Extension
                                                          Family Environment Extension
                                                          Department of Family Environment
                                                          College of Family and Consumer Sciences
                                                          Iowa State University
                                                          Ames, IA  50011

                       1982-1985                 Research Assistant
                                                          Department of Family Environment
                                                          Iowa State University
                                                          Ames, IA  50011

                       1981-1982                 Teaching Assistant
                                                          Iowa State University
                                                          Ames, IA  50011

                PROFESSIONAL DUTIES (%):

                HONORS AND AWARDS:

MAJOR FIELDS OF RESEARCH AND TEACHING INTERESTS (RESIDENT AND

                EXTENSION):

                        Research:         Family stress and coping
                                                Adolescent substance abuse prevention
                                                Youth and families at risk
                                                Parenting

                        Teaching:          Individual and family stress and coping
                                                Single-parent and blended families
                                                Building family strengths
                                                Balancing work and family
                                                Parent education

                RESEARCH GRANTS AND PROJECTS FUNDED:

                        Extramural Support

                        Intramural Support

RESEARCH GRANT SUBMITTED BUT NOT FUNDED:

                        Extramural Support

PUBLICATIONS:

                        Refereed Journals

                        Submitted for Publication

                                Chapters in Books

Technical Report

1999                 Molgaard, V., Spoth, R. and Redmond, C.  “Competency

                     Training:  The Strengthening Families Program for Parents

                     And Youth 10-14.”  Published for the Office of Juvenile

Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Aspen Systems

                     Corporation, Rockville, MD.

                                Extension Publications

                                Regional

                                State

                REFEREED PRESENTATIONS AT PROFESSIONAL MEETINGS:

                        Regional, National or International

PRESENTATIONS TO PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS/GROUPS:

                        Regional, National or International

                        State

OTHER CREATIVE ACTIVITIES:

                        Teaching Materials

Audio-Visual Materials and Accompanying Teaching Guides

                 MEMBERSHIP IN PROFESSIONAL AND HONOR SOCIETIES:

    Phi Kappa Phi, National Honor Society

                        Epsilon Sigma Phi, Extension Honorary Fraternity

                OFFICES HELD AND COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIPS IN PROFESSIONAL                            ORGANIZATIONS:

                        State

COLLEGE, EXTENSION, DEPARTMENT, AND PUBLIC SERVICE:

                College Service Since Initial Appointment:

                Extension Service Since Initial Appointment:

                        Departmental Service Since Initial Appointment:

                University Service Since Initial Appointment:

                Public Service Since Initial Appointment:

Ames, Iowa 50011, (515) 294-4518. Published by: ISBR Computer Support, webadmin@isbr.iastate.edu. Copyright © 1998-2004, Iowa State University. All rights reserved.