Study supports parenting programmes

The availability of parenting support programmes has increased significantly in the UK over the last two decades. U.S. programmes such as Triple P, Incredible Years, Positive Parenting and the Noughts to Sixes Parenting Programme have all had success and they have been matched in the UK by programmes such as Sure Start and Starting Well. However, most evaluations of these programmes have focused on short-term outcomes. A U.K. study aimed to gain a longer-term perspective by interviewing 20 carers more than a year after completing a group-based programme. The interviews showed that the majority of the participants felt the programme had had lasting effects on their ability to manage their children's behaviour and empowered them as adults. The key themes to emerge in the interviews were: the maintenance of parenting skills, the need for perserverance, strengthening of support networks and encouragement for further provision of programmes.

Zeedyk, M. Suzanne, Werrity, Irene and Riach, Christine - One year on: perceptions of the lasting benefits of involvement in a parenting support programme Children and Society 2008, 22, 99-111