ABSTRACT
Parents play a central role in children's ongoing participation and enjoyment of sport. Despite compelling evidence that parental behaviour can undermine the quality of children's experiences in sport, little research has examined whether strategies to support parents to engage in positive sports parenting behaviour are effective. In this paper, we report two studies that had the overall aim of developing, implementing and evaluating a program designed to promote positive parental involvement and improve spectator behaviour in junior rugby league in Australia. Study 1 involved the development of a prototype version of the program, named Play Well Triple P, which was qualitatively evaluated through interviews with 19 parents about their satisfaction with the program. In Study 2, we used feedback from Study 1 to refine the program and develop a pilot version, which was then evaluated in a quasi-experimental feasibility study with 101 parents (mean age = 38.42 years; 72% mothers) of junior rugby league players. The pilot version involved one interactive online module and text messages to reinforce content and prompt strategy implementation across the season. Participation in Play Well Triple P was associated with increased positive sports parenting behaviour and reduced controlling and intrusive sports parenting behaviour, with a trend towards reducing over-reactive parenting practices at home. These findings are discussed in relation to the feasibility of implementing a brief and engaging sports parenting intervention in the context of a broader integrated system designed to facilitate ongoing participation of children in sport.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the normality of daily life for many children, their families, and schools, resulting in heightened levels of anxiety, depression, social isolation, and loneliness among young people. An integrated public health model of interventions is needed to address the problem and to safeguard the mental health and wellbeing of children. The Triple P - Positive Parenting Program is one system of parenting support with a strong evidence-base and wide international reach. When implemented as a public health approach, Triple P has demonstrated population level positive effects on child wellbeing. This study will be the first large-scale, multi-site randomised controlled trial of a newly developed, low-intensity variant of Triple P, a school-based seminar series, as a response to the impacts of the pandemic. METHODS: The evaluation will employ an Incomplete Batched Stepped Wedge Cluster Randomised Trial Design. At least 300 Australian primary schools, from South Australia, Queensland, and Victoria will be recruited and randomised in three batches. Within each batch, schools will be randomly assigned to either start the intervention immediately or start in six weeks. Parents will be recruited from participating schools. The Triple P seminar series includes three seminars titled: "The Power of Positive Parenting", "Helping Your Child to Manage Anxiety", and "Keeping your Child Safe from Bullying". Parents will complete measures about child wellbeing, parenting, parenting self-regulation and other key intervention targets at baseline, six weeks after baseline, and 12 weeks after baseline. Intervention effectiveness will be evaluated with a Multilevel Piecewise Latent Growth Curve Modelling approach. Data collection is currently underway, and the current phase of the project is anticipated to be completed in January 2024. DISCUSSION: The findings from this study will extend the current knowledge of the effects of evidence-based parenting support delivered through brief, universally offered, low intensity, school-based parenting seminars in a post pandemic world. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial is registered at the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (Trial Registration Number: ACTRN12623000852651).
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Pandemics , Child , Humans , Adolescent , Pandemics/prevention & control , Parents/psychology , Parenting/psychology , Schools , Victoria , Randomized Controlled Trials as TopicABSTRACT
Parents can be essential change-agents in their children's lives. To support parents in their parenting role, a range of programs have been developed and evaluated. In this paper, we provide an overview of the evidence for the effectiveness of parenting interventions for parents and children across a range of outcomes, including child and adolescent mental and physical health, child and adolescent competencies and academic outcomes, parental skills and competencies, parental wellbeing and mental health, and prevention of child maltreatment and family violence. Although there is extensive research showing the effectiveness of evidence-based parenting programs, these are not yet widely available at a population level and many parents are unable to access support. We outline how to achieve increased reach of evidence-based parenting supports, highlighting the policy imperative to adequately support the use of these supports as a way to address high priority mental health, physical health, and social problems.
Subject(s)
Child Abuse , Parenting , Adolescent , Child , Humans , Parenting/psychology , Parents/psychology , Child Abuse/prevention & control , Mental Health , PolicyABSTRACT
The importance of champions in the implementation of evidence-based public health programs has been well established. Champions perform a range of behaviors which can have significant influence on the adoption and sustainability of interventions. This study investigates champion behaviors in parenting practitioners with the aim to provide insight into the range and extent that practitioners engage in champion behaviors and to examine predictors of practitioners' champion behaviors using structural equation modeling. Data were collected during a large international implementation survey of 1606 practitioners trained to deliver an evidence-based parenting program, the triple P-Positive Parenting Program. We developed a 13-item Champion Behaviors Scale which was administered alongside other measures of predictors of implementation outcomes. Perceived usefulness of the program was the most important facilitator of both public and personal champion behaviors. Certain desirable features of the program tended to not only be positively associated with the perceived usefulness of the program, but also had a unique impact on practitioners' personal champion behaviors. Higher positions within organizations were linked with more public champion behaviors. Although organizational support was found to be unrelated to champion behaviors in the structural model, it facilitated other predictors of champion behaviors.
Subject(s)
Parenting , Humans , Latent Class Analysis , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Sustained implementation is required for evidence-based parenting programs to promote children and their families' wellbeing at the societal level. Previous literature has examined the role of a range of different factors in enhancing sustainability. However, the inter-relationship between, and the relative importance of different factors remain largely unknown. The overall aim of this study is to identify predictors of sustained program use, the relative importance of factors, and potential mediation pathways. METHODS: We surveyed 1202 practitioners who were trained in at least one variant of the Triple P-Positive Parenting Program, at least one and half years before data collection. The present data were linked with data collected during professional training. We first examined the independent effect of each factor on sustained program use, then, developed and evaluated a structural equation model of sustained program use. RESULTS: The structural equation model explained a considerable amount of variance in sustained program use, with seven positive predictors and one negative predictor identified. Organisational support was identified as a key facilitator, which was not only positively linked with other facilitators but also had an independent positive effect. Perceived usefulness of the program was the most important practitioner-level facilitator, which might be contributed by both research-based evidence and practice-based evidence. Practitioners' self-regulation in program delivery impacted sustained use by influencing other factors such as perceived usefulness of the program. CONCLUSION: The findings provided insight into factors influencing the sustainability of evidence-based parenting programs which could be used to inform future implementation practice.
Subject(s)
Parenting , Parents , Child , Humans , Latent Class Analysis , Surveys and Questionnaires , Forecasting , Parents/education , Program EvaluationABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: This study evaluated whether an evidence-based parenting intervention, when delivered online, could effectively address disruptive behavior problems in young children and yield outcomes comparable to in-person delivery of the same intervention. METHODS: Families (n = 334) of children (3-7 years; 63% White, 22% African American, 15% other races; 63% male) with disruptive behavior problems were randomized to online-delivered intervention (ODI) or staff-delivered intervention (SDI), resulting in baseline and demographic equivalence. Primary outcome measures for child disruptive behavior (independent observation, parent report) and secondary outcome measures of parenting and family impact were assessed at baseline, postintervention, and follow-up. Conducted using intent-to-treat (ITT) as well as per-protocol (PP) methods, noninferiority analyses, which drew on an HLM framework with repeat measures across three timepoints and on REML to provide unbiased estimates of model parameters, tested whether the outcome-difference CI did not exceed the a priori noninferiority margin. RESULTS: For ITT and PP analyses, the ODI was found to be noninferior to the SDI on the primary outcome: independently observed child disruptive behavior and parent-reported child behavior problems. The pattern for secondary outcomes was more varied: (a) noninferiority for observed positive and aversive parenting; (b) noninferiority for observed quality of parent-child relationship at post but not follow-up assessment; (c) noninferiority for parent-reported inappropriate/inconsistent discipline for PP but not ITT analyses; and (d) noninferiority not confirmed for parenting daily hassles and adverse family quality of life, despite large effect sizes for the ODI (Cohen's d .75-1.07). Finally, ODI noninferiority was found for teacher-reported child disruptive behavior. CONCLUSIONS: The tested online-delivered parenting intervention demonstrated clear noninferiority with the corresponding staff-delivered parenting intervention on the primary outcome, child disruptive behavior problems, and reflected substantial though nonuniform noninferiority and meaningful effect sizes for secondary outcomes related to parenting and family. Future research will guide optimization of online interventions.
Subject(s)
Internet-Based Intervention , Problem Behavior , Child , Child Behavior , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Male , Parent-Child Relations , Parenting , Quality of LifeABSTRACT
Bullying victimisation is a serious risk factor for mental health problems in children and adolescents. School bullying prevention programs have consistently produced small to moderate reductions in victimisation and perpetration. However, these programs do not necessarily help all students affected by bullying. Paradoxically whole-school programs lead to higher levels of depression and poorer self-esteem for students who continue to be victimised after program implementation. This may be because some elements of whole-school programs make victims more visible to their peers, thus further eroding their peer social status. Three main identified risk factors for children and adolescents who continue to be victimised following school bullying prevention programs are peer rejection, internalising problems, and lower quality parent-child relationships. All are potentially modifiable through family interventions. A large body of research demonstrates the influence of families on children's social skills, peer relationships and emotional regulation. This paper describes the theoretical foundations and empirical evidence for reducing the incidence and mental health outcomes of school bullying victimisation through family interventions. Family interventions should be available to complement school efforts to reduce bullying and improve the mental health of young people.
Subject(s)
Bullying , Crime Victims , Adolescent , Bullying/prevention & control , Bullying/psychology , Humans , Incidence , Mental Health , SchoolsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Developing an effective population-level system of evidence-based parenting support capable of shifting (at a population level) rates of child maltreatment and social, emotional, and behavioral problems in children requires an integrated theory of change. This paper presents a systems-contextual model of change and identifies modifiable mechanisms that can potentially explain population-level changes in parenting and child outcomes. METHOD: Using the Triple P-Positive Parenting Program as an exemplar of a tiered, multi-level system of evidence-based parenting interventions, we discuss the putative mechanisms of change necessary to produce change in child behavior, parenting, practitioner behavior, and organizational changes to support the sustained implementation of an intervention. RESULTS: A model of change is proposed that blends theoretical perspectives derived from social learning theory, self-regulation theory, applied behavior analysis, cognitive behavior principles, developmental theory, and principles derived from the fields of public health, implementation science, and economics to explain change in the behavior at the community wide level. Different types of interventions targeting different populations and mechanisms are used to illustrate how sustainable change in child and parent outcomes can be achieved. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence supporting specific mechanisms and moderators of intervention effects are discussed as well as directions for future research on mechanisms.
Subject(s)
Child Abuse , Child Behavior Disorders , Adolescent , Child , Child Behavior , Child Behavior Disorders/psychology , Humans , Parenting/psychology , Parents/psychologyABSTRACT
Of all the potentially modifiable influences affecting children's development and mental health across the life course, none is more important than the quality of parenting and family life. In this position paper, we argue that parenting is fundamentally linked to the development of life skills that children need in order to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We discuss key principles that should inform the development of a global research and implementation agenda related to scaling up evidence-based parenting support programs. Research over the past 50 years has shown that parenting support programs of varied intensity and delivery modality can improve a wide range of developmental, emotional, behavioral and health outcomes for parents and their children. Such findings have been replicated across culturally and socioeconomically diverse samples, albeit primarily in studies from Western countries. We highlight the evidence for the relevance of parenting interventions for attaining the SDGs globally, and identify the barriers to and strategies for achieving their scale-up. The implications of the global COVID-19 pandemic for the delivery of evidence-based parenting support are also discussed.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Parenting , Child , Humans , Pandemics , Parenting/psychology , Parents , Sustainable DevelopmentABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy of a hospital-based intervention that transitions into existing community support, in enhancing developmental outcomes at 2 years of corrected age in infants born at less than 32 weeks. STUDY DESIGN: In total, 323 families of 384 infants born <32 weeks were randomized to receive intervention or care-as-usual. The intervention teaches parents coping skills, partner support, and effective parenting strategies over 4 hospital-based and 4 home-phone sessions. At 2 years of corrected age maternally reported child behavior was assessed by the Infant and Toddler Social Emotional Adjustment Scale. Observed child behavior was coded with the Revised Family Observation Schedule. Cognitive, language, and motor skills were assessed with the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development III. RESULTS: Mean gestational age of infants was 28.5 weeks (SD = 2.1), and mothers' mean age was 30.6 years (SD = 5.8). A total of 162 families (n = 196 infants) were allocated to intervention and 161 families (n = 188 infants) received care-as-usual. There was no significant adjusted difference between treatment groups on dysregulation (0.2; 95% CI -2.5 to 3.0, P = .9) externalizing (0.3; 95% CI -1.6 to 2.2, P = .8), internalizing (-1.5; 95% CI -4.3 to 1.3, P = .3), observed aversive (0.00; -0.04 to 0.04, P = .9), or nonaversive behavior (-0.01; 95% CI -0.05 to 0.03, P = .7). Intervention children scored significantly higher on cognition (3.5; 95% CI 0.2-6.8, P = .04) and motor skill (5.5; 95% CI 2.5-8.4, P < .001), and approached significance on language (3.8; 95% CI -0.3 to 7.9, P = .07). CONCLUSIONS: Baby Triple P for Preterm Infants increases cognitive and motor skills but does not impact behavior. The results are evidence that hospital-based interventions can improve some developmental outcomes for infants <32 weeks. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ACTRN 12612000194864.
Subject(s)
Adaptation, Psychological , Child Development , Infant, Premature , Parenting , Parents/psychology , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Infant, Newborn , Male , Program DevelopmentABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The article by Marryat, Thompson and Wilson (2017) in BMC Pediatrics presents an evaluation of the implementation of the Triple P system as a public health intervention conducted by the Glasgow City Council and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. DISCUSSION: Unfortunately, the conclusions drawn are questionable for multiple reasons. The lack of a controlled design precludes defensible conclusions about intervention effects free from routine threats to internal validity. There was a substantial mismatch between the intervention sample and the population sample assessed. The article's title and abstract leave readers with the mistaken impression that the children assessed for outcome were suitably representative of intervention families, when in fact many of the children in the intervention families were missing from the teacher-report outcome assessment (a single questionnaire), and many or most of the children in the teacher-report outcome assessment belonged to families who had never received the intervention. Although Triple P targets parent-child relations and child behavioural and emotional problems at home, Marryat et al. narrowly defined mental health impact as child difficulties in nursery or preschool, while not reporting data from practitioners and parents in the same evaluation that did not support the authors' conclusion. The paper was further diminished by a number of misleading statements and factual errors related for example to other research on Triple P. Studying the extent to which child mental health functioning at home can generalise to school settings is an important topic of inquiry in relation to parenting support interventions, but unfortunately the Marryat et al. article did not move this area forward.
Subject(s)
Malus , Pyrus , Child , Child, Preschool , Humans , Mental Health , Parenting , ParentsABSTRACT
Low-intensity parenting groups, such as the Triple P-Positive Parenting Program Discussion Groups, appear to be a cost-effective intervention for child conduct problems. Several studies evaluating a Triple P Discussion Group on disobedience found promising results for improving child and parent outcomes. However, a sufficient exemplar training approach that incorporates generalization promotion strategies may assist parents to more flexibly apply positive parenting principles to a broader range of child target behaviors and settings, leading to greater change. We compared the effects of sufficient exemplar training to an existing narrowly focused low-intensity intervention. Participants were 78 families with a 5-8 year-old child. Sufficient exemplar training resulted in more robust changes in child behavior and superior outcomes for mothers on measures of parenting behavior, parenting self-efficacy, mental health, and perceptions of partner support at post-intervention and 6-month follow-up. These results indicate that teaching sufficient exemplars may promote generalization leading to enhanced intervention outcomes.
Subject(s)
Child Behavior Disorders/psychology , Parenting/psychology , Parents , Psychotherapy, Group/methods , Sensitivity Training Groups , Adult , Child , Child Behavior/psychology , Family Health/education , Female , Humans , Male , Outcome Assessment, Health Care , Parents/education , Parents/psychology , Problem Behavior/psychology , Self EfficacyABSTRACT
To determine the prevalence, associated factors, and relationships between symptoms of depression, symptoms of posttraumatic stress (PTS), and relationship distress in mothers and fathers of very preterm (VPT) infants (< 32 weeks). Mothers (n = 323) and fathers (n = 237) completed self-report measures on demographic and outcome variables at 38 days (SD = 23.1, range 9-116) postpartum while their infants were still hospitalised. Of mothers, 46.7% had a moderate to high likelihood of depression, 38.1% had moderate to severe symptoms of PTS, and 25.1% were in higher than average relationship distress. The corresponding percentages in fathers were 16.9, 23.7, and 27%. Depression was positively associated with having previous children (p = 0.01), speaking little or no English at home (p = 0.01), financial stress (p = 0.03), and recently accessing mental health services (p = 0.003) for mothers, and financial stress (p = 0.005) and not being the primary income earner (p = 0.04) for fathers. Similar associations were found for symptoms of PTS and relationship distress. Being in higher relationship distress increased the risk of depression in both mothers (p < .001) and fathers (p = 0.03), and PTS symptoms in mothers (p = 0.001). For both mothers and fathers, depression was associated with more severe PTS symptoms (p < .001). Fathers of VPT infants should be screened for mental health problems alongside mothers, and postpartum parent support programs for VPT infants should include strategies to improve the couple relationship.
Subject(s)
Depression/psychology , Fathers/psychology , Infant, Premature , Infant, Very Low Birth Weight/psychology , Interpersonal Relations , Mothers/psychology , Parents/psychology , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/psychology , Stress, Psychological/psychology , Adult , Depression/epidemiology , Female , Humans , Infant, Newborn , Male , Mental Health , Postpartum Period , Prevalence , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/epidemiology , Stress, Psychological/epidemiologyABSTRACT
Evidence-based parenting support programs (EBPS) based on social learning and cognitive behavioral principles are effective in reducing conduct-related problems in a diverse range of cultural contexts. However, much less is known about their effects with indigenous families. A Collaborative Participation Adaptation Model (CPAM) was used to culturally adapt a low-intensity, two-session group variant of the Triple P-Positive Parenting Program for Maori parents of young children in New Zealand. CPAM involved collaborating closely with Maori tribal elders, practitioners as end-users, and parents as consumers through a participatory process to identify content and delivery process used in Triple P that would ensure that traditional Maori cultural values were incorporated. The culturally adapted program (Te Whanau Pou Toru) was then evaluated with 70 parents of 3-7-year-old children in a two-arm randomized clinical trial (intervention vs waitlist control). Results showed that parents in the intervention group reported significantly greater improvements in child behavior problems and reduced interparental conflict about child-rearing compared to parents in the control group at immediate post-intervention. These intervention effects were either maintained or improved further at follow-up assessment. At 6-month follow-up intervention-group parents reported significantly greater reductions in overreactive parenting practices and greater confidence in managing a range of difficult child behaviors than control parents. The culturally adapted program was associated with high levels of parental satisfaction. Findings are discussed in terms of making brief, effective, culturally adapted parenting support available to Maori families.
Subject(s)
Cultural Competency , Parenting , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Male , New ZealandABSTRACT
Preventive parenting interventions can experience challenges in maximizing dosage, or the amount of intervention received by parents. This study examined the associations of baseline mother, father, and very preterm infant (VPT; <32 weeks) characteristics with satisfactory intervention attendance of the family within a randomized controlled trial of Baby Triple P for Preterm Infants (Colditz et al., 2015). Mothers (n = 160) and fathers (n = 115) completed questionnaires prior to the randomization of family units (n = 160) to receive the intervention. Satisfactory session attendance (seven or eight sessions of eight in total) was achieved by 114 families (71.25%). In the logistic model for mothers, satisfactory attendance of the family was more likely when infants were extremely low birth weight (ELBW), odds ratio (OR) = 2.81, 95% confidence interval (CI) [1.16, 6.80], when the mother had a university, OR = 11.38, 95% CI [4.03, 32.19], or trade-certificate-level education, OR = 4.97, 95% CI [1.93, 12.84], or when she was not under financial stress, OR = 3.53, 95% CI [1.34, 9.28]. A similar pattern of results was found in the model for fathers. Session attendance of preventive parenting interventions for VPT infants may be improved by increasing the engagement of parents with infants not born ELBW, who have lower education, or are experiencing financial stress.
Subject(s)
Education, Nonprofessional/methods , Infant, Extremely Premature/psychology , Parenting/psychology , Preventive Health Services/methods , Female , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Infant, Very Low Birth Weight/psychology , Male , Parents/education , Parents/psychology , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Childhood cancer is associated with child adjustment difficulties including, eating and sleep disturbance, and emotional and other behavioral difficulties. However, there is a lack of validated instruments to measure the specific child adjustment issues associated with pediatric cancer treatments. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate the reliability and validity of a parent-reported, child adjustment scale. PROCEDURE: One hundred thirty-two parents from two pediatric oncology centers who had children (aged 2-10 years) diagnosed with cancer completed the newly developed measure and additional measures of child behavior, sleep, diet, and quality of life. Children were more than 4 weeks postdiagnosis and less than 12 months postactive treatment. Factor structure, internal consistency, and construct (convergent) validity analyses were conducted. RESULTS: Principal component analysis revealed five distinct and theoretically coherent factors: Sleep Difficulties, Impact of Child's Illness, Eating Difficulties, Hospital-Related Behavior Difficulties, and General Behavior Difficulties. The final 25-item measure, the Children's Oncology Child Adjustment Scale (ChOCs), demonstrated good internal consistency (α = 0.79-0.91). Validity of the ChOCs was demonstrated by significant correlations between the subscales and measures of corresponding constructs. CONCLUSION: The ChOCs provides a new measure of child adjustment difficulties designed specifically for pediatric oncology. Preliminary analyses indicate strong theoretical and psychometric properties. Future studies are required to further examine reliability and validity of the scale, including test-retest reliability, discriminant validity, as well as change sensitivity and generalizability across different oncology samples and ages of children. The ChOCs shows promise as a measure of child adjustment relevant for oncology clinical settings and research purposes.
Subject(s)
Adaptation, Psychological , Child Behavior , Neoplasms/psychology , Quality of Life , Stress, Psychological/diagnosis , Child , Child, Preschool , Emotions , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Male , Medical Oncology , Neoplasms/diagnosis , Prognosis , Psychometrics , Stress, Psychological/etiology , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
Parents play a crucial role in the development of their children's relationships with their siblings. Despite this, relatively few evidence-based parenting programs exist that specifically offer parents the strategies and techniques they desire and require for managing their children's sibling relationships. One way of bridging this gap is to design a tailored parenting intervention for sibling relationships that incorporates the parent voice in various aspects of program design. The current study recruited a convenience sample of 409 Australian parents to complete an online survey relating to their views on difficult sibling behaviors and what, if any, help they desire in dealing with the issue. The majority of respondents were Caucasian, middle- to upper-class mothers. Respondents predominantly attributed the causes of sibling conflict to their child's internal traits, but expressed strong desire for assistance with managing behavioral problems, especially when sibling relationships were marked by physical aggression. Respondents reported high levels of acceptability for positive, rather than punitive, parenting strategies and showed a clear preference for parenting interventions delivered in easy-to-access formats. The findings are interpreted in the context of guiding the development of a tailored parenting intervention for enhancing sibling relationships and reducing conflict.
Subject(s)
Negotiating/psychology , Parenting/psychology , Parents/psychology , Sibling Relations , Siblings/psychology , Adult , Australia , Child , Child, Preschool , Conflict, Psychological , Female , Humans , Male , Negotiating/methods , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
Web-based parenting interventions have the potential to increase the currently low reach of parenting programs, but few evidence-based online programs are available, and little is known about who benefits from this delivery format. This study investigated if improvements in child behavior and parenting, following participation in a brief online parenting program (Triple P Online Brief), can be predicted by family and program-related factors. Participants were 100 parents of 2-9-year-old children displaying disruptive behavior problems. Regression analyses showed that higher baseline levels of child behavior problems, older parental age and more intense conflict over parenting pre-intervention predicted greater improvement in child behavior at 9-month follow-up. Improvement in parenting was predicted by higher pre-intervention levels of ineffective parenting. Family demographics, parental adjustment and program related factors did not predict treatment outcomes. Younger child age and lower disagreement over parenting pre-intervention predicted completion of the recommended minimum dose of the program.
Subject(s)
Child Behavior/psychology , Parenting/psychology , Parents/education , Problem Behavior/psychology , Adult , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Internet , Male , Parents/psychology , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
There is widespread support for the hypothesis that, post-disaster, children's mental health is impacted--at least in part--via the impact on parents, parenting, parent-child interactions, and the family environment. To some degree, the enthusiasm with which this hypothesis is held outstrips the evidence examining it. The current paper critically evaluates the empirical evidence for this hypothesis and concludes that although limited (both in terms of number of existing studies and methodological flaws), the extant literature indicates some parent-related variables, as well as some aspects of the family environment are likely to constitute risk or protective factors for children. Given that parenting is modifiable, it is proposed that the identified parent- and family-related factors represent important therapeutic targets, and a universal post-disaster parenting intervention (Disaster Recovery Triple P) is described.
Subject(s)
Disasters , Mental Health , Parent-Child Relations , Parenting , Parents , Child , Humans , Parenting/psychology , Parents/psychologyABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of Stepping Stones Triple P (SSTP) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on child functioning, quality of life, and parental adjustment. METHOD: 67 parents (97.0% mothers) of children (64.2% male; mean age 5.3 ± 3.0 years) with cerebral palsy participated in a randomized controlled trial with three groups: wait-list control, SSTP, and SSTP + ACT. This article details the secondary outcomes. RESULTS: In comparison with wait-list, the SSTP + ACT group showed increased functional performance and quality of life as well as decreased parental psychological symptoms. No differences were found for parental confidence. No differences were found between SSTP and wait-list or between SSTP and SSTP + ACT. CONCLUSIONS: ACT-integrated parenting intervention may be an effective way to target child functioning, quality of life, and parental adjustment.