Together, these studies provide promising evidence that the PDFY program is appropriate for general and diverse populations and that it can be successfully disseminated. Most important, these studies show that PDFY improves parenting practices in ways that reduce risk factors and enhance protective factors for adolescent problem behaviors. The initial pre and posttest single-group evaluations described here demonstrate the acceptability and applicability of PDFY and the program's effectiveness in teaching key parenting concepts to a very broad voluntary audience. These studies also suggest that participating families are likely to implement family meetings, a central objective of the curriculum. The experimental findings are promising in several respects. As before, these studies demonstrate the applicability of PDFY when looking at specific targeted outcomes. Data from the observations of workshop leaders show that training community members to lead workshops is effective. In addition, the studies show that most parents, once they agree to participate in the program, will attend most of the PDFY sessions.

As communities and schools identify and prioritize risk and protective factors, it is important to consider effective parenting programs as critical components of comprehensive prevention strategies. PDFY offers schools and communities a well-researched, universal parenting program that enhances protective factors, reduces risk factors, and ultimately decreases problem behaviors among teens.