Waterloo Better Beginnings as a Transformative Prevention Project: Impacts on Children, Parents, and the Community

Geoffrey Nelson, Julian Hasford, Carlos Luis Zatarain, Alexis Gilmer, S. Kathleen Worton, Marwa Eid, Salma Bangash and Jeremy Horne
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Geoffrey Nelson: Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON N2L 3C5, Canada
Julian Hasford: School of Child and Youth Care, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada
Carlos Luis Zatarain: Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON N2L 3C5, Canada
Alexis Gilmer: Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON N2L 3C5, Canada
S. Kathleen Worton: Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON N2L 3C5, Canada
Marwa Eid: Better Beginnings Waterloo, Adventure4Change, Waterloo, ON N2L 6C7, Canada
Salma Bangash: Better Beginnings Waterloo, Adventure4Change, Waterloo, ON N2L 6C7, Canada
Jeremy Horne: Better Beginnings Waterloo, Adventure4Change, Waterloo, ON N2L 6C7, Canada

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 10, 1-14

Abstract: Better Beginnings Waterloo (BBW) is an ecological, community-driven, prevention program for children aged 4–8 and their families. BBW was implemented in two low-income communities with high percentages of visible minorities. Data on Grade 1–2 children and their parents (the baseline comparison group) were gathered through parent interviews ( n = 34) and teacher reports ( n = 68) in 2015, prior to BBW programs, and in the period 2018–2019, the same data were collected through parent interviews ( n = 47) and teacher reports ( n = 46) for children and parents participating in programs (the BBW group). As well, qualitative, open-ended individual interviews with parents ( n = 47) and two focus groups were conducted in the period 2018–2019. Children in the BBW cohort were rated by their teachers as having a significantly lower level of emotional and behavioural problems than those in the baseline sample; parents in the BBW cohort had significantly higher levels of social support than parents in the baseline cohort; BBW parents rated their communities significantly more positively than parents at baseline. The qualitative data confirmed these findings. The quantitative and qualitative short-term findings from the BBW research showed similar positive impacts to previous research on program effectiveness, thus demonstrating that the Better Beginnings model can be successfully transferred to new communities.

Keywords: prevention; early childhood development; children’s mental health; evaluation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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