ABC for Parents, All Children in Focus

Summary

Introduction

Positive parent-child interaction is an important factor for the child’s development, having effects that extend all the way to adulthood. All Children in Focus is a group intervention for parents of children aged 3–12 years. The intervention aims to influence parenting skills and the wellbeing of children.

Objective and research question

This systematic literature review assesses the effectiveness of the intervention All Children in Focus on the basis of research literature. The review answers the following questions: In how much detail has the All Children in Focus intervention been described? Does the All Children in Focus intervention have evidence-based effectiveness, applicable to Finland, in strengthening parenting skills and improving the wellbeing of 3–12-year-old children?

Data and research methods

A literature search was carried out using the PCC (Population, Concept, Context) search strategy, focused on the question: What research has been done on the All Children in Focus intervention? The following keywords were used: P = children of pre-school and primary school age, parents, families, C = All Children in Focus. Context (C) was omitted to avoid an excessive restriction of the results of the search. The primary area of interest in the search was effectiveness studies carried out on the intervention, although studies carried out using different frameworks were also included. A systematic literature search was carried out for the following six reference databases: MEDLINE, APA PsycInfo, CINAHL, ERIC, Web of Science and Scopus. In addition, a search for publications in Finnish was performed on the Finna.fi service, and the search was supplemented by a manual search.

Results

The literature search yielded two randomised controlled trial (RCT) studies and two quasi-experimental studies without a control group. The studies were carried out in Sweden. In the two RCT studies, a sample group from the intervention was compared to a control group on the waiting list. According to the studies, parental self-efficacy (PSE) improved (η²_p = 0.18 (corresponds to d = 0.94), NNT (Number-Needed-to-Treat) = 3), which proved to be a key factor in strengthening child health and development (CHD) (η²_p = 0.15 (corresponds to d = 0.84), NNT = 3). With regard to these response variables, the effect sizes were considerable. Parents also felt that their parent perception inventory (PPI) had developed; in particular, positive encouragement and praise increased in the six-month follow-up measurement (d < 0.10), whereas inconsistent discipline decreased (d = 0.14, NNT = 13). The parents’ emotional regulation questionnaire (ERQ) skills, such as reassessing one’s own actions (d = 0.17, NNT = 11), improved in the intervention group during the six-month follow-up measurement. In the six-month follow-up measurement, the parents in the intervention group described their emotional regulation questionnaire (ERQ) skills as stronger (d < 0.10) than the parents in the control group. The effect sizes of these response variables remained small. No confidence intervals were reported for the effect sizes. The intervention is based on affection theory and social learning theory. The intervention showed positive effects on all main response variables selected based on these theories. The intervention description and implementation support were assessed as reasonably good.

Methodology evaluation

The methodology evaluation score for the All Children in Focus intervention is 4/5, which means there is verified evidence of the method’s effectiveness in a Nordic context. There is no evidence of effectiveness from Finland. The evidence of effectiveness shows that the intervention increases the self-efficacy and emotional regulation skills of parents of children aged 3–12 years and develops their parenting practices compared to parents on the waiting list. The methodology evaluation is based on the criteria of the Kasvun tuki (Early Interventions) assessment system.