266 - Testimony: Using Arts-Based Methods to Evaluate a Faith-Based Character-Building Program for Caregivers and Teens

Abstract Information: Clergy, community members, researchers, and an evaluator collaborated to develop and implement a Christian, character-building parenting program for caregivers and teens at a Baptist church in Philadelphia. The collaboration reviewed strength-based approaches from evidence-based parenting programs, particularly those for Black families, as well as program models for building adolescent character. The Strong African American Families Program (SAAF) program and The Character Course serve as models to guide the newly developed Parenting Support and Teen Enrichment Program (PSTEP) program. SAAF is a seven-session program for youth ages 10-14 and their caregivers intended to enhance the strengths of Black families by promoting positive adolescent development. The Character Course is an eight-week program for churches that integrates the science of character strengths with biblical wisdom. PSTEP focuses on nurturing Christian values and improving communication and relationships between Christian caregivers and teens. PSTEP is an 8-module program integrating the SAAF and the five-character Value Cross of Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church, as well as biblical parables, and scripture. PSTEP is an 8-module program integrating the SAAF and the five-character Value Cross of Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church, as well as biblical parables, and scripture. Each module includes the SAAF program, as designed, and references to biblical quotes and video scenarios, roleplays, and games where caregivers and teens will roleplay and practice communication strategies. The PSTEP program and evaluation plan were developed at the same time. Collaborators believed participants’ voices (testimonies) pertinent to both the activities of the program and its assessment. The evaluator collected quantitative surveys including required pre/post SAAF items and items to measure change in parenting style and dimensions, beliefs about adolescent development, and caregiver-teen communication trends. The evaluator also collected qualitative data to collect rich data about participants’ experiences in PSTEP. Since PSTEP focuses on individual and shared activities for caregivers and teens, respectively, the evaluation also engages participants in individual and shared activities. Individually, participants responded to a photo-elicitation activity aimed at understanding participants’ experiences in the program. The activity was introduced in week 4 and each participant had about two weeks to submit photos and descriptive text that responded to three prompts about their experiences in PSTEP. The evaluation also solicited two-minute videos that caregivers and teens produced as a family. The evaluator used content analyses and the Listening Guide (Brown, & Gilligan,1991; Gilligan, 2015; Gilligan, Spencer, Weinberg, & Bertsch, 2006; Woodstock, 2016) to listen for voice in narratives of relationships and identify themes from the arts-based qualitative data sources.