Parenting stress is a complex process that can be subsumed within the general stress model of Lazarus and Folkman (1984) and understood as the aversive psychological reaction that occurs when caregivers feel overwhelmed and perceive that they lack the skills required to cope with their parental role (Abidin, 1995; Deater-Deckard, 1998). Parenting stress is conceptually distinct from other life stressors that a parent might experience (e.g., negative life events, financial problems), although they are frequently related (Holly et al., 2019). Parenting stress has been found to be associated with parenting processes across all developmental periods. Research suggests that parenting stress tends to show stability and to decrease over time as

Incredible Years (IY) is a well-established multicomponent group-based program designed to promote young children's emotional and social competence, to prevent and treat child behavioral and emotional problems, and to improve parenting practices and the parent-child relationship. This study presents the first randomized controlled trial carried out in Spain to test the effectiveness of the Incredible Years Basic Parenting and Small Group Dinosaur Programs in a sample of families involved in child welfare due to substantiated or risk for child maltreatment. One hundred and eleven families with 4-to 8-year-old children were randomly allocated to IY or to a control group who received standard services. Baseline, post-intervention, and 12-month follow-up assessments were compared. Results showed that compared to the control group, the IY intervention made a significant positive difference in parents' observed and reported use of praise, and a significant reduction in reported use of inconsistent discipline, parenting stress, depressive symptomatology, and perception of child behavior problems. A full serial mediation effect was found between participation in IY, changes in parenting practices, subsequent parenting stress reduction, and both final child abuse potential reduction and perception of child behavior problems. No moderating influence on IY effects was found. Findings provide evidence that transporting the IY Basic Parenting and the Small Group Dinosaur Programs with fidelity is feasible in Child Welfare Services in Spain.

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Parenting practices are a central focus of many family preventive and treatment programs due to their influence on children’s well-being. Reliable measures of parenting practices are relevant not only for research purposes, but also for assessment, selection of intervention goals, and evaluation of expected changes in clinical practice. However, measurement of parenting practices has been a challenge for researchers and practitioners. The Parenting Practice Interview (PPI) has been developed to assess both positive and negative parenting dimensions and has been used in clinical contexts. The present study aimed to develop a Spanish adaptation of the PPI and to analyze its main psychometric properties. The sample consisted of 213 parents with substantiated reports or at risk for child maltreatment with significant problems in coping with their children’s behavioral problems, recruited from Child Welfare and Child Protection Services. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), measurement invariance (MI), convergent validity, and differences based on parents’ and children’s age and gender were analyzed. A four-factor model with 25 items (Appropriate Discipline, Verbal Praise and Incentives, Inconsistent Discipline, and Physical Punishment) met statistical requirements (RMSEA = 0.06, CFI = 0.92, TLI = 0.91) and showed adequate internal consistency and convergent validity. MI analyses allowed comparison across time and groups. Although more research is needed, the PPI-25’s psychometric properties are encouraging for its use with families with substantiated reports or at risk for child maltreatment in Spain.