THE FAMILY JOURNAL: COUNSELING AND THERAPY FOR COUPLES AND FAMILIES / April 2001Snow et al. / ATTRITION IN STEP Identifying Personality Traits Associated With Attrition in Systematic Training for Effective Parenting Groups

Research has supported the use of the Systematic Training for Effec-tive Parenting (STEP) program when working with families; how-ever, minimal attention has been given to the attrition issue. Given that STEP has been shown to be effective, there is a definite need to identify characteristics of those individuals who are likely to termi-nate prematurely. A study was conducted comprising 221 subjects to investigate the predictive power of the Basic Adlerian Scales for In-terpersonal Success – Adult Form (BASIS–A) in relation to attrition in parenting groups. Results from the study indicated the attrition rate to be higher with individuals who had elevated scores on the En-titlement scale on the BASIS-A than individuals who do not have ele-vated scores. Situations such as children being raised in a chaotic familyatmosphere, divorce, separation, removal of extended family resources, and sudden changes in economic resources can put families under stress and at risk (Dinkmeyer, 1999)