Preventing enduring behavioural problems in young children through early psychological intervention (Healthy Start, Happy Start): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
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Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background: Behavioural problems are common in early childhood, and can result in enduring costs to the individual
and society, including an increased risk of mental and physical illness, criminality, educational failure and drug and
alcohol misuse. Most previous research has examined the impact of interventions targeting older children when
difficulties are more established and harder to change, and have rarely included fathers. We are conducting a trial of a
psychological intervention delivered to families with very young children, engaging both parents where possible.
Methods: This study is a two-arm, parallel group, researcher-blind, randomized controlled trial, to test the clinical
effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a parenting intervention, Video Feedback Intervention to Promote Positive
Parenting and Sensitive Discipline (VIPP-SD) for parents of young children (12–36 months) at risk of behavioural
difficulties. VIPP-SD is an evidence-based parenting intervention developed at Leiden University in the Netherlands
which uses a video-feedback approach to support parents, particularly by enhancing parental sensitivity and sensitive
discipline in caring for children.
The trial will involve 300 families, who will be randomly allocated into either an intervention group, who will receive
the video-feedback intervention (n = 150), or a control group, who will receive treatment as usual (n = 150). The trial
will evaluate whether VIPP-SD, compared to treatment as usual, leads to lower levels of behavioural problems in young
children who are at high risk of developing these difficulties. Assessments will be conducted at baseline, and 5 and
24 months post-randomization. The primary outcome measure is a modified version of the Preschool Parental Account
of Child Symptoms (Pre-PACS), a structured clinical interview of behavioural symptoms. Secondary outcomes include
caregiver-reported behavioural difficulties, parenting behaviours, parental sensitivity, parental mood and anxiety and
parental relationship adjustment. An economic evaluation will also be carried out to assess the cost-effectiveness of the
intervention compared to treatment as usual.
Discussion: If shown to be effective, the intervention could be delivered widely to parents and caregivers of young
children at risk of behavioural problems as part of community based services. Trial registration: ISRCTN Registry: ISRCTN58327365. Registered 19 March 2015.
and society, including an increased risk of mental and physical illness, criminality, educational failure and drug and
alcohol misuse. Most previous research has examined the impact of interventions targeting older children when
difficulties are more established and harder to change, and have rarely included fathers. We are conducting a trial of a
psychological intervention delivered to families with very young children, engaging both parents where possible.
Methods: This study is a two-arm, parallel group, researcher-blind, randomized controlled trial, to test the clinical
effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a parenting intervention, Video Feedback Intervention to Promote Positive
Parenting and Sensitive Discipline (VIPP-SD) for parents of young children (12–36 months) at risk of behavioural
difficulties. VIPP-SD is an evidence-based parenting intervention developed at Leiden University in the Netherlands
which uses a video-feedback approach to support parents, particularly by enhancing parental sensitivity and sensitive
discipline in caring for children.
The trial will involve 300 families, who will be randomly allocated into either an intervention group, who will receive
the video-feedback intervention (n = 150), or a control group, who will receive treatment as usual (n = 150). The trial
will evaluate whether VIPP-SD, compared to treatment as usual, leads to lower levels of behavioural problems in young
children who are at high risk of developing these difficulties. Assessments will be conducted at baseline, and 5 and
24 months post-randomization. The primary outcome measure is a modified version of the Preschool Parental Account
of Child Symptoms (Pre-PACS), a structured clinical interview of behavioural symptoms. Secondary outcomes include
caregiver-reported behavioural difficulties, parenting behaviours, parental sensitivity, parental mood and anxiety and
parental relationship adjustment. An economic evaluation will also be carried out to assess the cost-effectiveness of the
intervention compared to treatment as usual.
Discussion: If shown to be effective, the intervention could be delivered widely to parents and caregivers of young
children at risk of behavioural problems as part of community based services. Trial registration: ISRCTN Registry: ISRCTN58327365. Registered 19 March 2015.
Date Issued
2017-11-15
Date Acceptance
2017-10-30
Citation
Trials, 2017, 18
ISSN
1745-6215
Publisher
BioMed Central
Journal / Book Title
Trials
Volume
18
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s). 2017 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to
the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver
(http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to
the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver
(http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
License URL
Sponsor
National Institute for Health Research
Grant Number
13/04/33
Subjects
Attachment
Behavioural problems
Early intervention
Randomized controlled trial
Sensitive parenting
Video feedback
1102 Cardiovascular Medicine And Haematology
1103 Clinical Sciences
Cardiovascular System & Hematology
General & Internal Medicine
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
543