Attrition, Financial Incentives, and Parent Education

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to test whether financial incentives could account for some of the missing variance in previous studies on attrition in parenting education programs. Participating in the study were 79 parents with students in a suburban public school in the southeastern United States. The experimental group consisted of 42 participants who would receive financial reimbursement if they met the criteria for successful completion of the 10-week course. The classes for the control group were conducted in the same manner but with no financial incentives for completing the course. The results indicated that 61% of the participants did not qualify as completing the program, whereas 39% did complete the program. This study found no significant effects for the use of financial incentives.