Effectiveness of a universal health-promoting parenting program: a randomized waitlist-controlled trial of All Children in Focus

BACKGROUND: Parenting programs have been highlighted as a way of supporting and empowering parents. As programs designed to promote children’s health and well-being are scarce, a new health-promotion program, All Children in Focus, has been developed. The purpose of this trial was to evaluate the potential effectiveness of the program in promoting parental self-efficacy and child health and development, as well as to investigate possible moderators of these outcomes. METHODS: A multicenter randomized waitlist-controlled trial was conducted. The trial included 621 parents with children aged 3–12 years. Parents were randomized to receive the intervention directly or to join a waitlist control group. Parents completed questionnaires at baseline, 2 weeks after the intervention, and 6 months post-baseline. To evaluate potential effects of the program, as well as any moderating variables, multilevel modeling with a repeated-measures design was applied. RESULTS: Parents in the intervention group reported that their self-efficacy (p < .001), as well as their perceptions of children’s health and development (p < .05), increased 6 months post-baseline when compared with parents in the control group. One variable was found to moderate both outcomes: parents’ positive mental health. Furthermore, parents’ educational level and number of children moderated parental self-efficacy, while the children’s age moderated child health and development. Having a poor positive mental health, a university-level education, more than one child in the family, and older children, made the families benefit more. CONCLUSIONS: In the first randomized controlled trial of All Children in Focus, we found that the program appears to promote both parental self-efficacy and children’s health and development in a general population. Additionally, we found that families may benefit differently depending on their baseline characteristics. This contributes to an existing understanding of the advantages of offering universal parenting programs as a public health approach to strengthening families. However, further research is needed to investigate long-term effects and mediating variables, as well as the potential cost-effectiveness of the program. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials: ISRCTN70202532. November 7th 2012.