Caregivers' readiness for change: predictive validity in a child welfare sample

Area of Science:

• Child welfare research
• Family services evaluation
• Psychology of change

Background:

• Primary caregivers receiving in-home services after child abuse/neglect reports face challenges.
• Assessing caregiver readiness for change is crucial for effective interventions.
• Predictive validity of change measures in this population requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the predictive power of problem recognition (PR), intentions to change (ITC), and readiness for change (RFC) in primary caregivers.
• To determine if these measures predict changes in individual/family functioning and child maltreatment outcomes.
• To assess the utility of a combined readiness for change measure.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal study with 353 primary caregivers receiving in-home services.
• Data collected at 4 weeks, 16 weeks, and 1 year using interviews (URI Change Assessment scale), administrative records, and caseworker surveys.
• Statistical analyses included hierarchical linear/nonlinear models and bivariate probit regression.

Main Results:

• Initial problem recognition and intentions to change predicted some improvements in functioning and reduced subsequent child maltreatment reports.
• Intentions to change specifically predicted reduced substantiation of maltreatment reports.
• Overall readiness for change predicted reduced likelihood of out-of-home placements.

Conclusions:

• Problem recognition and intentions to change predict distinct outcomes, with limited added value from a combined readiness measure.
• Further research is needed to understand mediation by intervention processes in child welfare populations.