Journal of Child and Family Studies, Vol. 13, No. 1, March 2004 ( C  2004), pp. 21–34 Methodological Overview of the Parents Matter! Program Joanna Ball, M.A., 1 Jennifer Pelton, Ph.D., 2 Rex Forehand, Ph.D., 3,6 Nicholas Long, Ph.D, 4 and Scyatta A. Wallace, Ph.D. 5 We present an overview of the methodology employed in the Parents Matter! Pro- gram. Information on the following aspects of the program is presented: participant eligibility and recruitment; consenting procedures and administration of assess- ments; development and utilization of measures in the assessments; study design; intervention procedures; facilitator characteristics and training; procedures to assess treatment fidelity assessment; and procedures utilized to enhance retention of study participants. KEY WORDS: Parents Matter! Program; methodology; participants; assessment; facilitators. The Parents Matter! Program (PMP) is a community-based, family prevention program designed to enhance protective parenting practices and promote parent- child discussions about sexuality and sexual risk reduction in African American families. The ultimate goal of the intervention is to delay the onset of sexual activity and reduce sexual risk behavior among African American youth. PMP is currently being implemented and evaluated at three different sites throughout the Southeast U.S. (i.e., Athens, GA; Atlanta, GA; Little Rock, AR). More information about the background and rationale for PMP may be found in Dittus, Miller, Kotchick, and Forehand (2004). 1 Graduate Student, Psychology Department, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA. 2 Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of Washington, Seattle,WA. 3 Professor, Psychology Department, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT and Professor Emeritus, Institute for Behavioral Research, University of Georgia, Athens, GA. 4 Professor, University of Arkansas, Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Little Rock, AR. 5 Research Fellow, Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA. 6 Correspondence should be directed to Rex Forehand, Psychology Department, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405; e-mail: rex.forehand@uvm.edu. 21 1062-1024/04/0300-0021/0 C  2004 Human Sciences Press, Inc.