Prevention of Child Maltreatment: Integrative Review of Findings From an Evidence-Based Parenting Program.

This integrative review of the ACT Raising Safe Kids (ACT)-child maltreatment prevention program for parents-focuses on the program's theoretical framework, examines the ACT studies about the effects on caregivers, and discusses the ACT's implications for the practice and public policy. A systematic search of the PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Lilacs databases was performed, along with a search on the ACT Program website and contacting program researchers. Twenty-five studies evaluating the ACT Program were reviewed. The evaluation studies were conducted in the United States, Brazil, Portugal, and Peru. The program improved parenting practices in general and targeted populations such as incarcerated parents, mothers with a history of childhood violence, and mothers of preterm children. Additionally, the program was effective in decreasing child behavioral problems. Overall, the ACT Program effectively decreased hostile, aggressive, and coercive parenting and child behavior problems, which are key predictors of family violence.

A culturally adapted parenting intervention for the Chilean context: Qualitative indicators of participant satisfaction and contextual and cultural relevance.

Parent training (PT) interventions constitute an empirically demonstrated alternative to promote effective parenting practices and prevent child behavioral and mental health problems. However, the dissemination of evidence-based PT interventions across Latin America remains scarce. This qualitative study had the primary objective of evaluating the level of acceptability of a culturally adapted version of the PT intervention known as GenerationPMTO© , adapted for the Chilean context. According to qualitative reports provided by 24 Chilean caregivers exposed to the culturally adapted parenting intervention, the intervention was perceived by caregivers as useful for their parenting practices, as well as contextually and culturally relevant. Current qualitative findings indicate that the culturally adapted PT intervention holds promise for larger dissemination in the Chilean context.

Are Benefits From a Parenting Intervention Delivered Through the Health Services Sustainable? Follow-Up of a Randomized Evaluation in Jamaica.

OBJECTIVE: An innovative low-cost parenting intervention, implemented through health services in Jamaica showed benefits to children's cognitive development at 18 months and parent's attitudes concerning childcare. We assessed the impact of the intervention on child and parent outcomes at 6 years of age. METHODS: A cluster randomized trial of 2 parenting interventions was conducted through 20 health centers in Jamaica. Interventions were implemented from age 3 to 18 months and each intervention benefited cognitive development at 18 months (effect size 0.34-0.38 standard deviation). Children were reassessed at 6 years (n = 262, 80.1% of those assessed at 18 months) to determine any benefits to cognition, behavior, and parenting behavior. Loss to follow-up was not significantly different by treatment. Inverse probability weighting and Lee bounds were used to adjust for loss to follow-up, and multilevel regression analyses conducted with random effects at the health center level. RESULTS: There were no significant benefits to any child outcomes at age 6 years or to parenting behavior. Results are robust using the wild cluster bootstrap procedure and using Lee bounds for attrition. The initial trial benefits were reproduced with the current sample and methods. CONCLUSION: Lack of sustained benefits may be related to the initial effect size and low intensity of the intervention that ended very young at age 18 months. It may also be related to lack of initial impact on home environment and fade-out of effects in a country with near universal preschool. The findings have implications for intervention design and targeting.

Survive and Thrive in Brazil: The Boa Vista Early Childhood Program: study protocol of a stepped-wedge, randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: A growing body of evidence suggests that early life health and developmental outcomes can be improved through parental support programs. The objective of this project was to test the feasibility, impact, and relative cost-effectiveness of an adapted "Reach Up and Learn" program delivered through home-visiting programs as well as through center-based parenting groups on child health and development in the municipality of Boa Vista, Brazil. METHODS: A randomized, stepped-wedge design was used to roll out and evaluate the two parenting platforms in Boa Vista municipality. A total of 39 neighborhoods with a high Neighborhood Vulnerability Index were selected for the study. For the first phase of the program, nine neighborhoods were randomly selected for home visits, and two were randomly selected for the center-based parenting groups. In the second phase of the program, 10 neighborhoods were added to the home-visiting program, and eight were added to the center-based program. In the final phase of the program, the remaining 10 control areas will also be assigned to treatment. Study eligibility will be assessed through a baseline survey completed by all pregnant women in the 39 study areas. Pregnant women will be eligible to participate in the study if they are either classified as poor, were under age 20 years when they became pregnant, or if they indicate to have been exposed to domestic or sexual violence. To assess program impact, an endline survey will be conducted when children reach age 2 years. The primary study outcome is child development at age 2 years as measured by the PRIDI instrument. Secondary outcome will be infant mortality, which will be assessed linking municipal vital registration systems to the program rollout. DISCUSSION: This trial will assess the feasibility and impact of parenting programs rolled out at medium scale. The results from the trial should create evidence urgently needed for guiding Brazil's national Criança Feliz program as well as similar efforts in other countries. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, ID: NCT03386747. Registered on 13 December 2017. All items of the World Health Organization Trial Registration Data Set are available in this record.

The effects of two early parenting interventions on child aggression and risk for violence in Brazil (The PIÁ Trial): protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Children in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are at high risk for exposure to violence and later violent behaviour. The World Health Organization has declared an urgent need for the evaluation and implementation of low-cost parenting interventions in LMICs to prevent violence. Two areas of significant early risk are harsh parenting and poor child cognitive and socio-emotional development. Parenting interventions suitable for LMIC contexts have been developed targeting these risk factors and have been shown to have promising effects. However, their impact on child aggression, a key precursor of violence, has yet to be determined. The Pelotas Trial of Parenting Interventions for Aggression (PIÁ) has been designed to address this issue. METHODS: We are conducting a randomised controlled trial to evaluate two early parenting interventions for mothers of children aged between 30 and 42 months in a Brazilian city. The first of these, dialogic book-sharing (DBS), aims to promote child cognitive and socio-emotional development; and the second, the ACT Raising Safe Kids Program (ACT), is designed to reduce harsh parenting. These interventions are being compared with a control group receiving neither intervention. Three hundred and sixty-nine families in a birth cohort are being randomly allocated to one of the three groups (DBS, ACT, Control). Facilitators deliver the interventions to groups of five to 10 mothers at weekly sessions for 8 weeks in DBS and 9 weeks in ACT. Independent assessments of parenting and child development are being made before the interventions, shortly afterwards, and at follow-up 6 months later. The primary outcome is child aggression, and the two main secondary outcomes are: (1) child cognitive and socio-emotional development and (2) harsh parenting. Longer-term outcomes will be investigated as the birth cohort is followed into late childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. DISCUSSION: The Pelotas Trial of Parenting Interventions for Aggression (PIÁ) aims to evaluate the impact of two early parenting interventions on child aggression and several other key risk factors for the development of violence, including aspects of parenting and child cognition and socio-emotional functioning. The study is being carried out in a LMIC context where violence constitutes a major social and health burden. Since the two interventions are brief and, with modest levels of training, readily deliverable in LMIC settings, a demonstration that they benefit parenting and reduce risk factors for violence would be of major significance. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Brazilian Ministry of Health Register of Clinical Trials, ID: RBR-2kwfsk . Registered on 6 June 2018.

Preventing interpersonal violence in Panama: is a parenting intervention developed in Australia culturally appropriate?

OBJECTIVES: To explore cultural appropriateness of a transported parenting intervention in Panama. METHODS: Panamanian parents (n = 25) were interviewed after participation in an Australian parenting intervention. A thematic analysis was conducted to interpret qualitative data. RESULTS: Three themes emerged; cultural context, appropriateness of the intervention, and development of support networks. In terms of cultural context, parents described economic difficulties, living in a dangerous world, struggling to balance parenting and work, and using aggressive communication patterns. In terms of appropriateness of the intervention, they rated materials as appropriate, although suggested modifications to its delivery by including children and teachers in the training. Finally, parents commented that the intervention prompted the development of social networks within their communities. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, parents considered a transported parenting intervention as appropriate to their local needs. This study might be useful to local governments and international funders in charge of deciding whether transporting parenting interventions North to South as a strategy for violence prevention would be respectful of local needs. Our findings cannot be generalized beyond Panama, but the methodology can be replicated to answer this question in other settings.

Exploration of Mechanisms behind Changes after Participation in a Parenting Intervention: A Qualitative Study in a Low-Resource Setting.

Parenting interventions are effective for preventing psychological difficulties in children. However, their active ingredients have not been comprehensively explored. How do they work? What are the mechanisms operating behind changes? In 2012, a randomized controlled trial of a parenting intervention was conducted in low-resource communities of Panama. Effects on child behavioral difficulties, parental stress, and parenting practices were large in the short and long term. This was an ideal opportunity to explore potential mechanisms operating behind effects found in this low-resource setting. Twenty-five parents were interviewed. Data were analyzed through an inductive semantic thematic analysis. Three themes emerged from the data: (a) psychological mechanisms behind changes, (b) behavioral changes in parent, and (c) changes in the children. Parents described that the intervention triggered changes in emotion regulation, self-efficacy, and problem solving. Parents also reported behavioral changes such as praising their children more often, who in turn seemed more responsible and better at following instructions. The study offers participant-driven insight into potential pathways of change after participation in this parenting intervention, pathways that are often overlooked in quantitative studies. Future studies should further explore these pathways, through mediator and moderator analyses, and determine how much is shared across interventions and across different cultural settings.