Parental Adjustment Scale: Validation of a brief, five-item measure of parental adjustment for use with families of typically developing children and children with developmental and/or intellectual disabilities in Australia.

BACKGROUND: Explores the validity of the five-item parental adjustment scale, a subscale of the previously validated Parenting and Family Adjustment Scales. AIM: The aim was to assess the factor structure and convergent validity of a measure of parental adjustment within parents of typically developing children and parents of childiren with developmental and/or intellectual disabilities. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Cross-sectional survey data was analysed from Australian parents of children aged 2-12 years who were typically developing children (N = 683) and had developmental and/or intellectual disabilities (N = 756). Confirmatory factor analyses and multi-group structural equation modelling examined if the factor structure performed similarly across the two populations. Convergent validity was assessed. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: The confirmatory factor analysis supported the hypothesised one-factor structure for the parental adjustment scale in both populations. Partial measurement invariance confirmed that the scale was structurally consistent within both parent groups. The convergent validity was supported by significant correlations with the DASS-21 in the disability population and the K10 in the typically developing population. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: This brief, easily administered, five-item scale demonstrates strong potential in assessing parental adjustment, within both parents of typically developing children and parents of children with developmental and/or intellectual disabilities.

Predicting positive outcomes and successful completion in an online parenting program for parents of children with disruptive behavior: An integrated data analysis.

Online delivery of parenting support is steadily increasing, yet the factors that influence program engagement and efficacy are still understudied. This study used an integrated data analysis approach to identify family and program-related factors that influence outcomes. We combined individual data from seven published efficacy trials of the web-based version of the Triple P-Positive Parenting Program. Data were analyzed for 985 families with children aged between 2 and 12 years (M = 4.87; SD = 2.14) using a Latent Change Score approach. At post-intervention, sociodemographic factors were not predictive of changes in child behavior problems, while parents of boys and those with higher education showed greater improvements in dysfunctional parenting. Parents who were initially more confident in their parenting showed more overall gains while parents with more initial adjustment difficulties showed less improvement. Only the effect of baseline child behavior problems on changes in dysfunctional parenting was moderated by treatment condition. At follow-up, program variant and completion were the primary outcome predictors, with completion found to be related to initial parenting confidence, internet usage and program variant. The implications of these findings for reaching and retaining parents in online programs across all phases of the engagement process are discussed.

Comparing apples and pears: misleading conclusions about the population mental health impact of a parenting programme, a commentary on Marryat, Thompson and Wilson (2017).

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.

Exploring scale validity and measurement invariance of the Toronto Mindfulness Scale across levels of meditation experience and proficiency.

OBJECTIVES: The Toronto Mindfulness Scale (TMS) is a widely used instrument of state mindfulness. Research suggests the interpretation and functioning of mindfulness scale items may differ as a function of meditation experience, and thus, establishing invariance across experience levels is essential. METHODS: Five hundred and five meditation practitioners (32.7% male, 33.3% female, and 34.1% unspecified) with an average age of 42.37 years (SD = 12.70) completed the TMS online. RESULTS: Results support at least partial invariance across subgroups based on years of mindfulness meditation experience and self-reported proficiency. Construct validity of the Decentering subscale was also supported; however, the Curiosity subscale did not meet validity expectations, as it required additional model modifications to yield good fit, and means were not sensitive to differences in group experience or proficiency. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest further review of the TMS Curiosity items may be warranted to determine its suitability for use within mindfulness assessment.

Do Parents Benefit From Help When Completing a Self-Guided Parenting Program Online? A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Triple P Online With and Without Telephone Support.

In response to recent increases in the dissemination of Web-based parenting supports, an important consideration is whether the core benefits of self-directed participation in online parenting interventions are counterbalanced by issues such as high dropout and noncompletion rates commonly reported within the Internet intervention literature. This study outlines a randomized controlled trial of Triple P Online, a Web-based variant of the Triple P-Positive Parenting Program, delivered with varied levels of support scaffolding. Participants were 183 parents of children between 1 and 8 years of age with concerns about their child's behavior and at least one area of disadvantage or family difficulty. Participants were randomized to self-directed Triple P Online, telephone-supported Triple P Online, or a wait-list control. Primary outcomes measured at baseline, postintervention, and 5-month follow-up were negative parenting styles and child behavior problems. Secondary outcomes included parent confidence, anger, and adjustment; relationship quality; program engagement; and parent satisfaction. Self-directed participants showed short-term treatment effects, including reductions in overall negative parenting and frequency of child behavior problems, while practitioner support led to greater improvements in negative parenting and intensity of difficult child behaviors. Participants in the supported condition were also more likely to complete modules and reported greater program satisfaction. At follow-up, 50% of outcomes for the self-directed condition were significantly better than the control, while 94% of outcomes were significantly better than the control in the practitioner-supported condition. Although self-directed online approaches to parenting intervention are promising, this research highlights how minimal support can improve effective engagement and enhance outcomes for families.

Can the Perceived Barriers to Psychological Treatment Scale be used to investigate treatment barriers among females with disordered and non-disordered eating behaviours?

There is a lack of psychometrically sound instruments to assess treatment barriers among individuals with disordered eating behaviours. This study examined the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Perceived Barriers to Psychological Treatment scale (PBPT; Mohr et al., 2010) among a sample of individuals with disordered eating behaviours. Participants were 708 females aged 14 years and older who completed an online survey. The sample was randomly divided in two for the conduct of exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory (CFA) factor analyses. EFA suggested a seven-factor structure retaining 24 of the original 27 items (variance explained = 60%, α = 0.91). Factors were stigma, participation restrictions, negative evaluation of treatment, lack of motivation, emotional concerns, access restrictions, and time constraints. To assess clinical sensitivity, we conducted a secondary EFA utilising only clinical cases from this sample, which supported the solution but suggested retaining 25 of the original 27 items (variance explained = 58%, α = 0.89). The 25-item, seven-factor solution was further supported by CFA with an independent sample. Construct validity was also supported. The study suggests that the instrument will provide clinicians and researchers with a valid and reliable method of assessing treatment barriers in disordered eating samples.

The Triple P-Positive Parenting Program: a systematic review and meta-analysis of a multi-level system of parenting support.

This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the effects of the multilevel Triple P-Positive Parenting Program system on a broad range of child, parent and family outcomes. Multiple search strategies identified 116 eligible studies conducted over a 33-year period, with 101 studies comprising 16,099 families analyzed quantitatively. Moderator analyses were conducted using structural equation modeling. Risk of bias within and across studies was assessed. Significant short-term effects were found for: children's social, emotional and behavioral outcomes (d=0.473); parenting practices (d=0.578); parenting satisfaction and efficacy (d=0.519); parental adjustment (d=0.340); parental relationship (d=0.225) and child observational data (d=0.501). Significant effects were found for all outcomes at long-term including parent observational data (d=0.249). Moderator analyses found that study approach, study power, Triple P level, and severity of initial child problems produced significant effects in multiple moderator models when controlling for other significant moderators. Several putative moderators did not have significant effects after controlling for other significant moderators. The positive results for each level of the Triple P system provide empirical support for a blending of universal and targeted parenting interventions to promote child, parent and family wellbeing.