TPC-Journal-V1-Issue1

The Professional Counselor \ Volume 1, Issue 1 37 positive because there is a possibility students are now more prepared for parenthood and may be more cautious and introspective about pregnancy and family planning. Consistent with the Trinidad Spain study’s long-term follow up (Griffith), future studies should include subsequent analysis of pregnancy rates at various time intervals after program intervention to determine the program’s childbearing effects and capacity to deter teen pregnancy. These findings are consistent with Bandura’s 1982 theory that a program which aims to enhance self-efficacy will lead to increased motivation and a transfer of efficacious beliefs to other domains in participants’ lives. The intervention program provided a mechanism for student participants to gain new knowledge and attitudes from a source outside their own family construct and to increase their own sense of self-efficacy (Hess et al., 2004; Leerkes & Crockenberg, 2002; Reppucci, Britner, & Woolard, 1997). A supposition can be made that knowledge and new insight from the intervention program led to an increase of general self-efficacy for student participants, which subsequently translated into enhanced scores on the post-test measures. This would support Bandura’s theory of efficacy transference. Integrating parenthood education into an alternative school curriculum affords at-risk students the opportunity for exposure to healthy parenting and family planning information that they would not otherwise receive. By participating in a parenthood education program designed as a pre-pregnancy prevention strategy, alternative school students receive instruction and guidance in prosocial parenting skills, realistic child raising (including financial, time, and emotional demands), child development, proactive family planning, goal setting, and the development of self-efficacy and empathy (with parent/caregiver’s roles and responsibilities). Limitations The major limitation of this study was using the program with the entire experimental group (39 students) placed in one large instructional setting. Although logistically necessary for the school’s academic and scheduling requirements, this arrangement was not theoretically sound from an alternative school educational pedagogy (Barr & Parrett, 2003). A group of 39 students is too many to monitor, focus toward lesson goals and objectives, and authentically involve in discussions and activities. It is likely that sustainability of program content for student participants was weak or even lost due to the size of the group. A smaller group would naturally prompt an increase in instructor-student interaction, group discussion participation, and greater retention of the information by student participants. Future programs or follow-up studies are recommended to be not more than 8–12 students per class session, which is consistent with group theory and at-risk curriculum recommendations (Corey, 1990; Becvar, Canfield, & Becvar, 1997). The duration of the program—eight weeks, two times per week—can be a limitation. Although the length of the parenthood education program is consistent with best practices and the average for parent education programs (Bamba, 2001; Cline & Fay, 1990; Cutting & Tammi, 1999; Doetsch, 1990; Fay, Cline, & Fay, 2000; Herz, 1984; Stirtzinger et al., 2002), extending the program would allow for reiteration of material, increased process and reflection time, and retention of curriculum. Because the program content is unfamiliar to this population, a longer time span for program intervention would assist in assimilation and application for the students. Generalizability of the study findings beyond this population is limited. Because the population consisted of only one alternative school in Northern Idaho, caution is advised in generalizing the results to other settings. In order to extend generalizability, future research should replicate the current study parameters in similar populations. Recommendations for future studies include: (1) increased integration of the program across a full semester scheduled to meet at least one hour per week; (2) implementation of the program with group sizes which are theoretically sound for the at-risk adolescent population (between 8–12 students per group); (3) administration of posttests in at least two sessions versus all assessments completed in only one session; (4) the addition of a qualitative component to the posttest measures which would enhance understanding of the at-risk adolescent; and, (5) inclusion of a follow-up measure that would help analyze pregnancy rates at various time intervals after program intervention to determine the effect of the program in deterring teen pregnancy over time. These recommendations would serve to alleviate the current study’s limitations, expound on its strengths, and produce a robust, credible parenthood education program effective with our at- risk alternative school adolescents.