Enhancing Outcomes of Low-Intensity Parenting Groups Through Sufficient Exemplar Training: A Randomized Control Trial

There is a high prevalence of mild to moderate levels of conduct problems displayed by young children in the population with estimates ranging from 19 to 65 per cent.

Although there appears to be a substantial proportion of families who would benefit from a parenting programme, participation is low partly due to available programmes not meeting the needs or preferences of all parents. For some families, an eight to 18 week intensive programme may be required, however in other families a long-term intervention may be neither feasible nor needed.

Low-intensity parenting programmes play an important role in a public health approach to parenting support that aims to reduce the prevalence of child conduct problems at a population level. Such programmes require less practitioner time, are more cost-effective and range from single session programmes to several sessions of topic-focused intervention. Typically, low-intensity parenting programmes focus on a narrow range of specific child problems or parenting strategies. For parents of a child with mild to moderate conduct problems, a low-intensity programme may be sufficient to prevent the development of more serious problems. There is evidence that low-intensity parenting programmes lead to positive changes in children and parents.