Parenting and child psychosocial problems: Effectiveness of parenting support in Preventive Child Healthcare

Psychosocial problems (e.g. aggressive behaviour, fear, anxiety) frequently occur in children and may lead to serious restrictions in daily functioning currently and in later life, and are the major cause of long-term work disability in young adults. Ineffective and inconsistent parenting styles may contribute to psychosocial problems in children. Our research showed that child psychosocial problems are associated with parenting stress and living in deprived areas, while internalizing problems of parents are associated with living in deprived areas, parental concerns and problem behaviour of their child. To investigate the effectiveness of Primary Care Triple P (PCTP), we conducted a multicenter, randomized, and controlled trial in Preventive Child Healthcare in the Netherlands. We compared PCTP with the usual care, and measured the effects immediately after treatment and after 6 and 12 months. Parents of children with mild psychosocial problems were invited to participate in this study. Our study showed positive effects of PCTP, but the intervention did not outperform the control condition. In general, a few outcomes improved in both treatment groups. Analyses based on imputed data showed similar results. Based on this underpowered study, we cannot conclude that PCTP is more effective than UC in preventive child healthcare. Though Primary Care Triple P did not outperform the usual care provided by PCH, it concerns a short and standardized intervention that suits the competences of CHPs and that showed no negative effects.