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ABC for Parents: Pilot Study of a Universal 4-Session Program Shows Increased Parenting Skills, Self-efficacy and Child Well-Being

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Abstract

The aim of the present pilot study was to provide an initial evaluation of a brief, 4-session, universal health promoting parenting group program, the “ABC”. We examined the effects of the program on improving parental strategies, parental self-efficacy, and child well-being. We also hypothesized that in a health promoting intervention implemented in the general population, increased parental self-efficacy and parental strategies would be associated with improvements in child well-being after 4 months. Parents living in 11 municipalities and local community agencies in Sweden enrolled in the project were invited to participate in the study. A repeated measurement within group design was used to assess the effects. In total, parents of 104 children aged 2–12 years participated in the ABC-study. Parental and child outcomes were evaluated before, after the intervention, and at a 4-month follow-up with parental self-report questionnaires. Paired t tests and ANOVA repeated measures showed statistically significant improvements of parental strategies (showing guidance, empathy/understanding, having rules/boundaries), parental self-efficacy (self-competence, knowledge/experience), and child well-being (emotional well-being, independence) from pre- to post measurement, with small to moderate effect sizes. Improvements were maintained at the 4-month follow-up, apart from changes in parental knowledge. University education and increased pre- to post improvements in self-efficacy predicted child emotional well-being at the 4-month follow-up. The findings suggest that the ABC-group intervention was effective in terms of improving child well-being, parental strategies and self-efficacy. This pilot study provides promising evidence for the ABC as a universal parenting program but further more rigorous evaluations are needed.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Swedish National Institute of Public Health for financial support, the parents who took part in the study, contact persons in the municipalities/city districts for their recruitment of parents, and group leaders for performing the intervention.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Psychology, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels v. 9, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden

    Pia Enebrink & Malin Ulfsdotter

  2. Nyköping Young Adult Clinic, Sörmland County Council, Nyköping, Sweden

    Maja Danneman

  3. Behavioral Medicine Pain Treatment Service, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

    Valeria Benvestito Mattsson

  4. STAD, Stockholm Centre for Psychiatry Research and Education, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Camilla Jalling

  5. Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Lene Lindberg

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  1. Pia Enebrink
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Correspondence to Pia Enebrink.

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Enebrink, P., Danneman, M., Benvestito Mattsson, V. et al. ABC for Parents: Pilot Study of a Universal 4-Session Program Shows Increased Parenting Skills, Self-efficacy and Child Well-Being. J Child Fam Stud 24, 1917–1931 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-014-9992-6

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