Supporting Indigenous health professionals: Key issues and supports for the adoption of evidence-based behavioural family intervention in Indigenous communities

This project focuses on supporting the delivery of Triple P - Positive Parenting Program - to Aboriginal and Torres families. Triple P is a "parenting program that has been proven to reduce the risk factors known to contribute to poor child outcomes". Based on consultations with Indigenous professionals and government representatives, the report includes a consensus statement detailing training and post training issues for Indigenous health workers, a framework for culturally sensitive training, and a series of recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of trainin

Help when it's needed first: A controlled evaluation of brief, preventive behavioral family intervention in a primary care setting

This study evaluated the effects of a brief 3- to 4-session behavioral family intervention program for parents of preschool-aged children in a primary care setting, compared to parents in a wait-list control condition. Parents receiving the Primary Care Triple P-Positive Parenting Program intervention reported significantly lower levels of targeted child behavior problems, dysfunctional parenting, and reduced parental anxiety and stress in comparison to wait-listed parents at postassessment. These short-term effects were largely maintained at 6-month follow-up assessment of the intervention group. Implications of these findings for the prevention of behavioral and emotional problems in children are discussed

A review of Australian Government funding of parenting intervention research

Objectives: Parenting is central to children's optimal development and accounts for a substantial proportion of the variance in child outcomes, including up to 40% of child mental health. Parenting is also one of the most modifiable, proximal, and direct factors for preventing and treating a range of children's problems and enhancing wellbeing. To determine the effectiveness of new approaches to parenting intervention, and to evaluate how to optimise reach and uptake, sufficient funding must be allocated for high quality research. Method: We reviewed funding awarded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and Australian Research Council (ARC) for parenting intervention research during 2011–2020. Results: Parenting intervention research received 0.25% of the NHMRC and ARC research budgets. Conclusions: There is a substantial mismatch between the funding of parenting intervention research and the impact of improved parenting on short‐ and long‐term child outcomes. To rectify this, it is critical that Australian Government funding schemes include parenting interventions as priority areas for funding. Implications for public health: Changes in allocation of funding to parenting research will support the establishment of evidence for the effective development, implementation and dissemination of parenting interventions to maximise health outcomes for children and their families

A randomized controlled trial evaluating the efficacy of Triple P Online with parents of children with early onset conduct problems

Objective: This study examined the efficacy of Triple P Online (TPOL), an eight-module intensive online positive parenting program for parents of children with early-onset disruptive behavior problems. Method: One hundred and sixteen parents with 2-9-year-old children displaying early-onset disruptive behavior difficulties were randomly assigned to either the intervention condition (N = 60) or an internet-use-as-usual control group (N = 56). Results: At post-intervention assessment, parents receiving the internet intervention TPOL had significantly better outcomes on measures of problem child behavior, dysfunctional parenting styles, parents' confidence in their parenting role, and parental anger. At 6-month follow-up assessment intervention gains were generally maintained, and in some cases enhanced. Consumer satisfaction ratings for the program were high. Conclusions: Internet-delivered self-help parenting programs appear to make a valuable contribution to a comprehensive public health approach to parenting support.</p

Technology-assisted delivery of parenting programs

Raising children in an age of technology has led to greater parental interest in accessing parenting information and support through the Internet. Using the Triple P Online (TPOL) family of web-based interventions as an example, this chapter examines the role of technology-assisted delivery of parenting programs, identifies some of the unique challenges to consider when providing parenting programs online, and highlights recent research exploring some of the implementation issues that influence engagement and program outcomes, including the provision of professional support

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.</p

Supporting Families Affected by Adversity: An Open Feasibility Trial of Family Life Skills Triple P

This pilot feasibility study examined the effects of a new trauma-informed parenting program, Family Life Skills Triple P (FLSTP), in an open uncontrolled trial conducted in a regular service delivery context via video conferencing. FLSTP was trialed as a group-delivered 10-session intervention. Program modules target positive parenting skills (4 sessions) and adult life skills including coping with emotions, taking care of relationships, self-care, dealing with the past, healthy living, and planning for the future. Participants were 50 parents with multiple vulnerabilities, due to social disadvantage or adverse childhood experiences, who had children aged 3–9 with early onset behavior problems. Outcomes were assessed across four data collection points: baseline, mid-intervention (after Session 4), post-intervention, and 3-month follow up. Findings show moderate to large intra-group effect sizes for changes in child behavior problems, parenting practices and risk of child maltreatment, and medium effect sizes for parental distress, emotion regulation and self-compassion. Parents and practitioners reported high levels of consumer satisfaction with the program. Parents with lower levels of parental self-efficacy, lower personal agency and higher baseline scores on a measure of child abuse potential were at greater risk of not completing the program. The strength of these preliminary findings indicates that a more rigorous evaluation using a randomized clinical trial is warranted.</p

Behavioural parent training versus dietary education in the treatment of children with persistent feeding difficulties

This controlled treatment- outcome study compared the effects of behavioural parent training (BPT) and standard dietary education (SDE) on the mealtime interaction, feeding behaviour, nutritional status, and adjustment of children with feeding disorders. Participants were 20 children (aged between 18 months and five years) with persistent feeding difficulties, and their families. Children underwent initial screening (involving medical assessment, behavioural observation of mealtime interaction, nutritional intake analysis, and self-report measures of parent and child adjustment) and were randomly assigned to BPT or SDE. Results indicated that children in both treatment conditions showed improvement on the child behaviour measures (e.g. food refusal, disruptive behaviour during mealtimes) at home and in mealtime observations in the clinic. Children in both conditions also showed an increase in the variety of foods sampled by follow-up. Following treatment, mothers who received BPT showed more positive mother- child interaction during mealtimes, and both parents were more satisfied with treatment than parents in SDE. Mothers in both conditions showed slight elevations in mood posttest and follow-up, and increased marital satisfaction at posttest (which decreased by follow-up). All other treatment effects were maintained at a three- to four-month follow-up assessment