Bringing parenting interventions back to the future: How randomized microtrials may benefit parenting intervention efficacy.

Abstract

A novel approach is needed to promote the efficacy of parenting interventions designed to improve children's mental health. The proposed approach bridges developmental and intervention science to test which intervention elements contribute to parenting intervention program efficacy. The approach encourages the field to move “back to the future” using stringent, focused experimental techniques to test discrete parenting techniques (e.g., praise, time‐out) on their merit. We argue that these randomized microtrials are needed to (a) distinguish between the less and more efficacious elements of parenting interventions, (b) illuminate for whom and under what conditions elements are efficacious, and (c) explore the potential for empirically supported tailoring of interventions to meet families’ specific needs.

Brief Parenting Interventions for Children at Risk of Externalizing Behavior Problems: A Systematic Review

“…Future research should also aim to examine which strategies contribute to the efficacy of parenting programs more generally so these can be included in brief parenting interventions. Leijten et al (2015) highlighted the importance of conducting randomized microtrials to test the efficacy of discrete parenting strategies, and this is a priority to maximise the efficacy of brief interventions.…”

Stimulating parents' self-efficacy beliefs or verbal responsiveness: Which is the best way to decrease children's externalizing behaviors?

“…Microtrials provide a good opportunity to attain them (Leijten et al, 2015). They are defined as "randomized experiments testing the effects of relatively brief and focused environmental manipulations designed to suppress specific risk mechanisms or enhance specific protective mechanisms, but not to bring about full treatment or prevention effects in distal outcomes" (Howe, Beach, & Brody, 2010).…”

“…Such a focused manipulation offers the opportunity to isolate a variable and disentangle its impact from that of covariates. In this way, they help distinguish between the less and more efficacious elements of parenting interventions, ascertain for whom and in what conditions these elements are the most efficacious and explore the potentialities of tailoring interventions to families' needs (Leijten et al, 2015).…”

Commentaire – Adaptation et remise à l’épreuve des programmes fondés sur des preuves destinés à prévenir la violence envers les enfants : étude de cas canadienne

“…. Ces éléments doivent avoir été identifiés de fac¸on empirique à l'aide de méthodes telles que les essais par répartition en sousgroupes, les analyses de médiation et les micro-essais 20 . On n'a toujours pas établi dans quelle mesure les 18 éléments du modèle établi par le NFP sont efficaces, ni dans quelle mesure ils doivent être respectés pour éviter de compromettre l'efficacité de l'intervention 21 .…”