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The Positive Action family program: A pilot randomized trial and replication

Kendra M. Lewis, Brian R. Flay

Background: We report results from the first randomized trial of the Positive Action (PA) intensive family program. Eighteen families (parents and teens) were randomly assigned to receive the program, consisting of 7 weekly meetings, with parents and teens attending separate sessions for the first half of each session (90 minutes) and then attending a joint session for the second half (90 minutes). Eleven families (approximately one-third) were randomly assigned to a wait-listed control condition. Methods: We surveyed all parents before the program and at immediate posttest with 16 items assessing family conflict (α = .74), family cohesion (α = .79), and parent-child bonding (α = .75). Data were also collected from additional parents who participated in two subsequent rounds of the program. Results: Results suggest that the PA intensive family program had immediate positive effects on all three outcomes with effect sizes (Cohen’s d) between 0.34 and 0.59. Significant interactions with pretest scores for cohesion indicated stronger effects for those families at highest risk among this high-risk sample. Data from subsequent pretest-posttest only groups replicated these results. Conclusions: We conclude that this first randomized trial of the Positive Action intensive family program and the pretest-posttest replications provide results worthy of further follow-up.