Background: Poor social emotional wellbeing and potential disruptive behaviour problems in the early years have a major negative impact on individual lifelong wellbeing, and on society. They increase the risk for long-term trajectories of educational failure, juvenile delinquency and adult anti-social behaviour, as well as poor health. Evidence-based parenting programmes, delivered in early life, are effective in improving parent mental health, child behaviour and social and emotional wellbeing. The two programmes recommended by NICE to prevent/reduce conduct disorder, are Incredible Years and Triple P. However, these (and other) evidence-based parent programmes are developed outside of the UK raising issues of transportability and cultural acceptability.

Aim:This project aims to explore what parent programme works for whom and under what circumstances?

Specific questions include:

·       Which available parent programme is most acceptable (uptake and retention), and effective, in areas with high levels of cultural diversity and deprivation, and why?

·       What accommodations/adaptations could be, or have been, implemented to meet cultural needs and what impact have they had on outcomes?

·       What is the cost of delivering these programmes?

Progress

• An Exploration study has been conducted; this involved designing and distributing an online survey which explored the availability, flexibility and accessibility of parent programmes in relation to the overall delivery. The survey also looked specifically at the structure, target audience and convenience of each programme identified.  Telephone interviews were conducted with a respondents (such as managers and practitioners working in parenting) who completed the online survey. The telephone interviews had three main areas of interest in relation to the programmes on offer (as identified in the online survey); training and support, uptake and retention, and fidelity and outcomes.
• Focus groups took place in the three wards in Bradford in June 2015 to gather parents’ views in relation to the acceptability of parent programmes currently being delivered. The focus groups aimed to establish what adaptations could be implemented to existing programmes and referral methods to meet cultural need and break down barriers, as well as to identify what methods are most effective in encouraging participation, attendance and retention on the local population.
• A report combining the findings of the Exploration study and the parent’s views study was published in May 2016. Read the report in full here.
• A systematic review of outcome measures used to evaluate the impact of parent programmes for parents of children aged 0-5 years is being conducted. Relevant outcome domains of parenting programmes include those which relate to the parent’s well-being, the child’s well-being and the functioning of the parent-child relationship.

Plans: The findings of the systematic review of outcome measures will lead to the development of a core set of recommended measures for researchers and practitioners evaluating parent programmes.

Related studies

Better Start Bradford

NIHR E-SEE Trial

Publications

• Morpeth, L., Blower, S., Tobin, K., Taylor, R.S., Bywater, T., Edwards, R.T., Axford, N., Lehtonen, M., Jones, C. and Berry, V. (2017). The effectiveness of the Incredible Years pre-school parenting programme in the United Kingdom: a pragmatic randomised controlled trial. Child Care in Practice, 23(2),141-161.
• Berry, V., Axford, N., Blower, S., Taylor, R.S., Edwards, R.T., Tobin, K., Jones, C. and Bywater, T. (2016). The effectiveness and micro-costing analysis of a universal, school-based, social–emotional learning programme in the UK: A cluster-randomised controlled trial. School Mental Health, 8(2), 238-256.
• Bywater, T. (2017) Effectiveness of Cognitive and Behavioural Group-Based Parenting Programmes to Enhance Child Protective Factors and Reduce Risk Factors for Maltreatment, in The Wiley Handbook of What Works in Child Maltreatment: An Evidence-Based Approach to Assessment and Intervention in Child Protection (eds L. Dixon, D. F. Perkins, C. Hamilton-Giachritsis and L. A. Craig), John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, UK. 
• Axford, N., Bywater, T., Blower, S., Berry, V., Baker, V. and Morpeth, L. (2017) Critical Factors in the Successful Implementation of Evidence-Based Parenting Programmes, in The Wiley Handbook of What Works in Child Maltreatment: An Evidence-Based Approach to Assessment and Intervention in Child Protection (eds L. Dixon, D. F. Perkins, C. Hamilton-Giachritsis and L. A. Craig), John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, UK.
• Webster-Stratton, C., & Bywater, T. (2015). Incredible partnerships: parents and teachers working together to enhance outcomes for children through a multi-modal evidence based programme. Journal of Children's Services, 10(3), 202-217.
• Hindson, Z., Bywater, T. and Blower, S. Exploration of current parent programme delivery to enhance child social and emotional wellbeing in Bradford Published report, May 2016, ISBN No: 978-0-9571068-4-0
• Hindson, Z., Bywater, T. and Blower, S. on behalf of The IMPACT Project steering group members A pictorial summary of the report; Exploration of current parent programme delivery to enhance child social and emotional wellbeing (available on request)