Clinical trial NCT01845948: Effectiveness of a Parental Training Programme to Enhance Parent-child Relationship and Reduce Harsh Parenting Practices and Parental Stress in the Preparation of Children for Transition to Primary School
Official title: Effectiveness of a Parental Training Programme to Enhance Parent-child Relationship and Reduce Harsh Parenting Practices and Parental Stress in the Preparation of Children for Transition to Primary School: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Parent
Keywords: parents
school transition
parental-child relationship
Lead sponsor: The University of Hong Kong
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2013-05-03
Enrollment: 142
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Brief summary: This study tested the effectiveness of a parental training programme to enhance parent-child relationship and reduce harsh parenting practices and parental stress in the preparation of children for transition to primary school. A randomized controlled trial was employed and 142 parents were recruited. Parents in the experimental group engaged in less harsh parenting practices and reported better parent-child relationships than parents in the control group. Findings from this study provide empirical evidence of the effectiveness of the parental training programme and highlight the significance of parental involvement in promoting a smooth transition for children from kindergarten to primary one.

Detailed description: Introduction Transition creates a time of vulnerability for the child, the parents and their relationship. Failure to adjust to the transition, on the part of either parents or children, might place the family in a psychological devastating position. There is an imperative need to develop and evaluate appropriate interventions for parents so that they can contribute to helping their children enjoy a smooth passage to a pleasurable learning life in primary school.

Aim The aims of this study were to test the effectiveness of a parental training programme to enhance parent-child relationship and reduce harsh parenting practices and parental stress in the preparation of children for transition to primary school.

Methods A randomized controlled trial, two-group pre-test and repeated post-test, between-subjects design was employed. The method of simple complete randomization was adopted. Recruitment and data collection were conducted during the summer in 2009. Participants were recruited through referrals from the Hong Kong Sheung Kung Hui Welfare Council in Tung Chung. Written consent was obtained from parents after they were told the purposes of the study and agreed to participate. Parents were told that they were under no obligation to participate, could withdraw from the study with impunity at any time and were assured of the confidentiality of the data to be collected.

After they had signed consent forms, a research assistant collected demographic and baseline data from parents. Data collection was divided into three phases: at the time of recruitment (pre-intervention), at six weeks and three months after the intervention. Parents were asked to respond to the Chinese version of the parental acceptance-rejection scale, parental stress scale, and self-report scale on parent-child relationship in respect of the transition from kindergarten to primary school.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* must be able to read and write Chinese
* must have had primary school education or above

Exclusion Criteria:

* with identified cognitive and learning problems were excluded, as also were children with such problems

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change of Self-reported Parent-Child Relationship at 6 weeks from baseline
timeFrame: 6 weeks
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Self-reported Parent-Child Relationship at baseline
timeFrame: baseline, 0 week ( just before the start of intervention)
measure: Change of Self-reported Parent-Child Relationship at 3 months from baseline
timeFrame: 3 months
measure: Perceived Parental Aggression Scale at baseline
timeFrame: baseline, 0 week ( just before the start of intervention)
measure: change of Perceived Parental Aggression Scale at 6 weeks from baseline
timeFrame: 6 weeks
measure: change of Perceived Parental Aggression Scale at 3 months from baseline
timeFrame: 3 months
measure: Parental Stress at baseline
timeFrame: baseline, 0 week ( just before the start of intervention)
measure: change of Parental Stress at baseline at 6 weeks from baseline
timeFrame: 6 weeks
measure: change of Parental Stress at baseline at 3 months from baseline
timeFrame: 3 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Hong Kong
country: China
facility: Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Tung Chung Integrated Services
Study officials:
affiliation: The School of Nursing, The University of Hong Kong
name: William Ho Cheung Li, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Li HC, Chan SS, Mak YW, Lam TH. Effectiveness of a parental training programme in enhancing the parent-child relationship and reducing harsh parenting practices and parental stress in preparing children for their transition to primary school: a randomised controlled trial. BMC Public Health. 2013 Nov 16;13:1079. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-13-1079.