Bounce Back & Thrive! Programme Effectiveness

Between the years of 2010 - 2016, 4 separate studies were completed to understand the impact of Bounce Back & Thrive!ᴼᴹ (BBT) Resiliency Skills Training on parents attitudes, beliefs associated with resiliency and parenting, as well as their perceptions of the training experience and the knowledge they acquired. Over the course of the research (an initial pilot project; as well as three separate evaluation studies) data was generated from 561 parents attending 84 BBT groups in diverse Canadian communities. 

Bounce Back & Thrive! Pilot Study

Piloting of BBT began in 2010 and involved 161 parents from across 18 BBT skills training pilot groups across diverse communities in Ontario, Canada.119 parents participated in both the pre- and post-training evaluation.

Two types of research processes were used to gain insight into the a) impact of the training on parents beliefs, and attitudes associated with resiliency as well as knowledge gained from the training, and b) parents feedback on the usefulness and effectiveness of the skills training sessions.

• To examine the impact of the 10-session resiliency skills training, parents were administered the Bounce Back subscale (a 14-item Likert-type self-reported measure) developed to look at parents' beliefs and attitudes affecting their own resilience and parenting. This was completed before and after the training took place. A 69-item post-training survey was also completed to measure the knowledge gained, use of the resiliency skills and the impact of the programme on the behavior of parents and children. 
• To collect process evaluation data parents were ask to complete an evaluation at the end of each of the 10-training sessions to acquire data into the effectiveness and usefulness of the content and delivery of the training. 

Pilot Results

Results from the impact assessment showed a significant positive change in attitudes associated with resilience in parents as well as more positive attributions about their children and parenting. Parents with the least 'resilient' attitudes to start improved the most.

Parents' perceptions on the top ways that the skills training helped them personally included:

• reducing their stress level
• finding positive things to appreciate in their lives
• feeling more optimistic about the future
• believing more in themselves and their abilities.

Parents also reported feeling more confident about themselves as parents and having more concrete skills to use with their children. They reported that following the training sessions they were: 

• using the resiliency skills regularly and modeling them with their children
• experiencing a greater sense of calmness and control in their lives
• becoming more hopeful about life
• recognizing more strengths and positives in their children
• more patient and have a better relationship with their children
• seeing their children become calmer and more patient as well as more confident and perseverant.
• observing their children use the resiliency skills with other children and adults.

Results from the process evaluation showed that parents rated both the overall helpfulness of the BBT programme and their satisfaction of the programme very highly (overall helpfulness mean = 4.6 on a 5-point scale; satisfaction mean 4.7 on a 5-point scale). 100% of the parents surveyed said that they would recommend the skills training to other parents.

Cumulative Results from Additional Evaluation Studies 

Following the pilot study, ongoing evaluation of BBT resiliency skills training, was conducted to determine if the results obtained from the pilot could be replicated across different communities. Despite differences in group dynamics, cumulative results from the pilot as well as impact and process evaluation of across 3 separate studies¹  showed consistent findings in the following key areas: 

After attending BBT, parents …

• showed a significant positive change in attitudes associated with resilience as well as more positive attitudes about their children and parenting [BBSS resilience sub-scale, p<.001]

• who had the least ‘resilient’ attitudes to start showed the greatest positive change in attitudes related to resilience and parenting by the end of the skills training programme. 

• reported being significantly less stressed and “down” and those who scored most poorly on depression and stress scales at the start of the training showed the greatest improvement [DASS-21 Depression and Stress subscales, all p<.001]

• knew more about building resilience in their children and themselves [both p<.001]

• learned to pause and “respond” instead of “react” to challenges (understanding link between thoughts & reactions)

• found new ways to handle problems

• were calmer, more patient and empathic with others

• could better appreciate the positives in life.

Nearly all of the parents said they

• used what they learned at least once a week (about 60% use it daily)

• modelled the skills regularly with their children (like calming, looking for positives).

About 75% of the parents reported noticing changes in their children such as being…

• calmer, more patient and empathic

• better able to handle anger and frustrations

• more perseverant and able to try new things

• more confident and feeling better about making mistakes.

To request a detailed report of BBT's programme evaluation and results please contact RIRO@wellington.ca

¹  Study 1 had 119 parents involved in evaluation out of 194 parents attending 18 BBT groups. Study 2 had 153 parents involved in evaluation out of 234 parents attending 27 BBT groups. Study 3 had 170 parents involved in evaluation out of 261 parents attending 21 BBT groups.

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