Effectiveness of a Preventive Parenting Program Combining Attachment and Behavioral Approaches in an Arab Context: a Cluster-Based Randomized Control Trial.

Parenting programs aim to help parents and carers enhance their skills and ameliorate infants' and toddlers' wellbeing. In Lebanon and other Arab countries, contextualized group-based parenting programs addressing parents' mental wellbeing, parenting styles, and child development are quite rare. Therefore, a Preventive Parenting Program consisting of 7 sessions has been designed by local experts for the local cultural context. This study aims to assess its effectiveness. Thirty-three sites were identified in Great Beirut: private firms, primary healthcare centers, and child daycares. Sixteen agreed to take part in the study and were randomly assigned to intervention and control arms. From these clusters, 191 mothers of typically developed children younger than three years were recruited to intervention (106) or control (85) groups. The Mental Health Inventory, Caregiver Knowledge about Child Development Inventory, Parent Authority Questionnaire, and a Demographic questionnaire were completed at pre-intervention and post-intervention and 3 months later by both groups of mothers. There were no significant differences between clusters with respect to all scales' scores at baseline as well as the 2 other data collection points. Despite the positive feedback collected from mothers who attended the sessions, no significant effects were detected. The design of the program, the expected outcomes, and the characteristics of the participants may have contributed to the limited results, hence the need for further research.

SAFE START: AN EARLY CHILDHOOD MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM IN A TERTIARY HEALTHCARE SETTING-A CRITICAL REVIEW.

Early childhood mental health programs are vital for the current and future mental health and brain development of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. Founded in 2014, Safe Start is the only early childhood mental health program in Beirut, Lebanon. It aims at being the prototype of such services at the national level. A retrospective analysis of the outcomes of the first year of operations has resulted in important findings about the age of the participants, their diagnoses, previous therapies that the participants have undergone, types of referrals recommended, and the number of participants who were lost to follow-up. This first analysis pointed at the need for more in-depth research to encompass the gaps and benefits of such services. It shows the pivotal importance of designing awareness strategies about the importance of early childhood mental health services and care; to move from a diagnostic seeking behavior to commitment to psychotherapy and follow-up interventions.