SEACAP: Social and Emotional Competence for Children and Parents

Promoting child and parent social-emotional well-being

Since 2013, we have been developing and evaluating a parenting program called SEACAP: Social and Emotional Competence for Children and Parents. SEACAP promotes young children’s self-regulation, as well as social, emotional and behavioral adjustment through parenting strategies that contribute to children’s positive development. SEACAP also integrates mindfulness and cognitive-behavioral tools that support parent stress-management, emotion regulation, and well-being to promote both parent and child well-being. We collaborated with parents, providers and early learning centers in the development of this program so that it is easily integrated into other early childhood programming. To date, more than 150 families have participated in SEACAP.

What is SEACAP?

We know that when parents have tools to manage their own stress and emotions, they are more effective in supporting their children. SEACAP promotes effective parenting practices and supports parents’ well-being and social-emotional skills through mindfulness and emotion regulation practices.  

What’s unique about SEACAP? 

  • It supports the well-being of both children and parents.
  • It incorporates mindfulness and emotion regulation practices.
  • It is brief, with 6 groups sessions and optional individual sessions. Group sessions provide parents with opportunities for sharing, discussion, practice and normalizing their experiences. Individual coaching sessions provide opportunities for parents to individualize and troubleshoot skills.
  • SEACAP is practical: it offers parents skills for supporting their children’s social-emotional development.
  • It is designed to be delivered by family advocates, early childhood educators or behavioral consultants working in early childhood settings.
  • It is easily integrated into early childhood programs.

What we’re studying

We set out to study the effectiveness of this brief program that focused on enhancing both parent and child well-being. We were particularly interested in understanding how SEACAP could improve outcomes for parents and children experiencing stress and adversity, so all children can grow up resilient and thriving, particularly those from families living in a context of low-income or poverty. Too often, these families face high levels of stress from experiencing inequity and lack access to the resources and support they need to thrive.

What we’re learning

We evaluated SEACAP in early childhood settings that offer programs for low-income families and families in transitional housing, and so far approximately 150 families have participated. In preliminary studies evaluating the effectiveness of SEACAP, we found that parents report feeling more in control of their emotions and behavior, and they engage in more effective parenting after the program. We observed parents coaching their children’s behaviors (using “scaffolding”) and showing fewer negative behaviors toward their children. Parents reported their children having improved social-emotional adjustment.

Parents indicated they are very satisfied with the program’s content and format. In particular, they reported appreciating the strategies for being present and mindful with their children, strategies for calming themselves down when they are upset, and practices for building warm and consistent relationships with their children.

What’s next

We continue evaluating SEACAP and looking for partners to implement and evaluate SEACAP at additional sites through community organizations that serve a diverse range of families, particularly using a task-sharing or train-the-trainer approach. As part of the UW’s Population Health Initiative grant, CCFW Director Dr. Liliana Lengua partnered with colleagues from UW Schools of Medicine, Social Work, Law, and the Center for Healthy Equity, Diversity & Inclusion to adapt the SEACAP parenting program for Latine families, and with ITHS funding, we evaluated a task-sharing approach to offering SEACAP to parents who are returning to the community after incarceration.

Publications:

Lengua, L. J., Smith, M. R., Eo, Autumn, Gonzalez, A. F., & Ruberry, E. (2024). Evaluation of a mindfulness-based early-childhood behavioral parenting program that promotes parent and child well-being in high-risk contexts. Mindfulness, 15, 3038–3053 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-024-02307-8.

Lengua, L.J., Ruberry, E.J., McEntire, C., Klein, M., Jones, B. (2021). Preliminary Evaluation of an Innovative, Brief Parenting Program Designed to Promote Self-Regulation in Parents and Children. Mindfulness, 438–449. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-018-1016-y

The SEACAP studies were funded by the Harvard University Center on the Developing Child, the UW Center for Child and Family Well-Being, and the Maritz Family Foundation.

Interested in Learning More?

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