A Regional Partnership to Improve Outcomes Through Fatherhood Engagement

Child well-being will be assessed by the Child Behavior Checklist. This is a standardized self-report measure widely used in the measure of child behavior and child well-being. Separate forms are used for children aged 1.5-5, and 6-18. The questionnaire is completed by the caregiver using a series of Likert scales (0=absent, 1=sometimes, 2=often occurs). There are 113 questions, measuring a series of internalizing (e.g., anxious/ depressed, depressed, somatic complaints) and externalizing (e.g., attention problems, rule-breaking behavior, aggression) symptoms over the prior 6-months. Raw scores are standardized into t-scores, with elevated scores reflecting greater symptomatology when compared to a gender and aged normed population.

Father engagement will be measured by the Child-Parent Relationship Scale, Short form (CPRS-SF). The CPRS-SF is a 15-item self-report measure assessing the current relationship between parent and child. Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 ("definitely does not apply") to 5 ("definitively applies"). Ratings are averaged into groups of items corresponding to conflict items (8 items) and closeness (7 items) subscales for this study. Higher scores indicate higher levels of the specific construct (i.e., more conflict or more closeness). Higher conflict score reflects higher negativity; higher closeness score reflects warmth, affection, and open communication.

Father engagement will also be measured by the Inventory of Father Involvement, Short Form (IFI-SF). The IFI-SF is a 26-item measure of father involvement, focusing on the following subscales: discipline and teaching responsibility, school encouragement, providing, time and talking together, praise and affection, developing talents, reading/homework, supporting the coparent, and attentiveness. Items are rated using a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 0 ("Very Poor") to 6 ("Excellent"). For this study, scores are averaged, yielding a score of 0-6 overall. Higher scores indicate higher levels of perceived father involvement.

Father engagement will also be measured by the Parenting Alliance Inventory (PAI). The PAI is a 20-item scale that assesses the co-parenting relationship between parents. Items are rated using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 ("Strongly Disagree") to 5 ("Strongly Agree"); for this study, scores are averaged for a range of 1-5. Higher scores indicate a stronger, more positive, and cooperative partnership.

Father behavioral health will be measured by the Addiction Severity Index (ASI, adapted). The ASI is a self-report measure addressing potential problems associated with substance use. This study will use only the drug and alcohol section. The drug and alcohol section of the ASI consists of a severity assessment where the participant is asked to rate the severity of their drug and alcohol addiction, over the past 30 days, using a numeric computation with many components. This measure summarizes the patient's need for treatment. Results for each component will be summarized by study arm.

Father behavioral health will also be measured by the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD, adapted). This study uses a 12-item short form of this self-report scale is designed to measure depressive symptomatology in adult populations. Items are rated using a 4-point Likert scale ranging from 0 ("Rarely or none of the time (i.e., <1 day)") to 3 ("Most or all of the time (i.e., 5-7 days)"), yielding an overall possible score of 0-36 for this adaptation. Higher scores indicate more clinically significant depressive symptoms.

Father behavioral health will also be measured by the Trauma Symptom Checklist-40 (TSC-40). The TSC-40 evaluates symptomatology in adults associated with childhood or adult traumatic experiences. It measures aspects of posttraumatic stress and other symptom clusters found in some traumatized individuals. In this study, the parent will respond based on their own behavioral symptoms. The TSC-40 consists of 40 items across six domains (anxiety, depression, dissociation, sexual abuse trauma index, sexual problems, and sleep disturbance) wherein parents self-report trauma-related symptoms on a 4-point frequency scale ranging from 0 ("Never") to 3 ("Often"), yielding a total score of 0-120, such that higher scores are indicative of higher distress.