Effectiveness of Remotely Delivered Parenting Programs on Caregiver-child Interaction and Child Development: a Systematic Review

Remotely delivered parenting interventions are suitable to promote child well-being and development, in a context of social isolation, as our society faced due to COVID-19. The objective of this systematic review was to assess the effectiveness of remotely delivered parenting interventions for typically developing children on caregiver-child interaction and child development. We carried out a systematic search to find studies from the inception of the database to September 2021 on six electronic databases: MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection and Regional Portal Information and Knowledge for Health (BVS), and gray literature. Eligible study designs were experimental and quasi-experimental studies. We included parenting interventions as long as they were remotely delivered and focused on typically developing children. Two outcomes were considered: caregiver–child interaction and child development. Three randomized controlled trials (RCT) and one quasi-experimental study met the inclusion criteria. Results from two RCT revealed positive, small-to-medium effects on child development. One study showed that the new intervention had a not inferior effect compared to the results achieved by the traditional support. Children who participated in the quasi-experimental study showed significant elevations in language ability. One study reported positive caregiver-child interaction results. There is insufficient evidence to draw definitive conclusions regarding the effectiveness of remotely delivered parenting interventions on child development due to the heterogeneity of participant profiles, mode of delivery, and assessment tools. The results suggest the need to develop future methodologically rigorous studies assessing the effectiveness of remotely delivered parenting interventions for typically developing children on caregiver–child interaction and child development.