2016 International IY Mentor Meeting: Promoting Diversity

Thanks to the Dutch IY team at the University of Utrecht with the special help of mentors Marte and Maartje, 48 mentors met in beautiful Utrecht for the yearly IY 3-day international meeting , taking place September 28-30.

Day #1

Carolyn opened the day by reviewing new IY interventions and translations as well as showing some pie charts of the number of group leaders trained and accredited in different countries according to specific programs. She talked about the importance of promoting diversity of IY program delivery along dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, religious beliefs, political beliefs, SES status, sexual orientation or other ideologies.

She introduced Ibdah Inclusive a puppet who is having problems integrating in her new country. Mentors were encouraged to share with each other how they promote diversity in IY programs.

The new mentors-in-training were introduced to the group. These included Andreia Azevedo and Tatiana Homem from Portugal, Jens Andersen from New Zealand, Joanne Singleton from Manchester and Judah Racham from London.

Six people completed their mentor training accreditation. For the Basic Parent Program Maria Filomena Gaspar, Maria-Joao Seabra Santos in from Portugal, Line Moller from Denmark and Sigrid Ness from Norway. Sue Evans completed the Parent Autism Program and Anne Breese the Classroom Dina Program from Wales.

The first day the mentors join with the European IY group to hear about the latest research. Walter Matthys who first brought Carolyn Webster-Stratton to the University of Utrecht for a symposium over 15 years ago began with a reflection on his team’s research findings from a clinical perspective.

Joyce Weeland from Holland reported on the ORCHIDS study, an observational randomized control group study evaluating the IY prevention program in Holland. She reported on the differential effects of outcomes in terms of number of sessions attended, SES, family composition, child gender and initial child severity of problems. She discussed mediators and moderator of what works and for whom including some work with genetic markers.

Patty Leijten from Holland presented her research analyses investigating the transportability and effective components of 4 evidence-based parent programs. In particular she looked at ethnic minorities in European studies and found no differential effects by ethnic background, education level, and recruitment method. These factors did not seem to influence intervention effectiveness. She also reported on her current analyses of trying to identify single intervention components (content, delivery, therapist characteristics) on child outcomes.

Merete Aasheim from Norway reported on the results of the IY teacher classroom management program in elementary schools. This paper is in submission for review.

Tatiana Homem and Andreia Azevedo from Portugal presented work from their doctoral dissertation on the impact of father’s involvement in IY groups at 6 months and 12 months post treatment. The enhanced outcomes when fathers are involved in the intervention attests to a need for a “fathers matters” movement.

Ankie Menting presented the results of her meta-analyses as well as her work using the IY parent program with incarcerated mothers. See her publications in our Article Library.

Maartje Raaijmakers from Holland discussed her current research analyses looking at the influence of therapist factors on the effectiveness of the IY parent program. With a data set of 786 families (452 intervention and 334 control) she is assessing the impact of therapist factors such as communication and personality, alliance with parents, and level of experience on parent reports of behavior problems.

Stephen Scott presented an overview of many of his studies with IY programs including his 10 year follow-up study and the results of the UK team of pooled samples of RCTs looking at moderator effects. IY seemed to work equally well with disadvantaged families and those with ADHD and emotional problems.

Day #2
Carolyn met with one group of IY mentors to present the Incredible Beginnings program.

Participants seemed eager to bring this program to day care providers and teachers of younger children.

Three other groups met in wonderful rooms to view their workshop and group DVDs. Videos were presented by Micah, Cathy, Line, Jens, Oddbjorn, Kim, Janne, Kari and Peter.

At the end of the day Odd Fynn reviewed for the mentors the important work done by Albert Bandura and Gerry Patterson on social learning theory. This review of observational learning and the coercive process was very helpful in reminding us of the theories that underlie the IY programs.

Day #3
The third day started with break out groups discussing the issues related to teaching parents and teachers time out methods. This was followed by further discussion of what is considered “core” time out skills and what is “flexible”. There was so much discussion that the practice exercise has been tabled for a subsequent meeting. Please see a draft of a paper by Carolyn Webster-Stratton.

The rest of the day, 4 groups met to view videos together and to discuss issues related to fidelity of program delivery. Videos were presented by Sue, Barbara, Bethan, Anne, Angela, Maria M, Peter, and Maria F.

At the end of the day groups presented their key points about promoting diversity. One group presented a diversity puzzle which included the ability to listen, ask questions, be aware, be challenged, be curious, not assume, and to tailor and adapt.

The men’s group is expanding and they allowed one woman to promote diversity.

Thanks to everyone in our IY community who made this event such a success!

-IY Seattle Team