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What Works in Parenting Support? Main report.
What Works in Parenting Support? Summary report.
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| Abbreviations and Acronyms
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M
Mean (Average)
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N/A
Not Applicable
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N/I
No Information reported
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MOA
Method of Administration
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RCT
Randomised Controlled (or Control) Trial
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SP
Special populations. Denotes particular populations of policy interest
for the Review. Includes: fathers, foster parents, grandparents,
step-parents, low income parents, ethnic minorities, refugees, asylum
seekers, travellers, gifted children, children in transitions, children
and parents with disabilities, teenage parents, parenting teenagers,
children with SEN, parents in prison, drug using parents
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T1
Time 1. A time point for data collection - the beginning of an intervention
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T2
Time 2. Time point for data collection - the end of the intervention
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T3
Time 3. Time point for data collection - follow up after end of intervention
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Glossary of Key Terms
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Early intervention
Services that are aimed at families where early signs of problems may
be visible at a low level, provided with the intention of nipping
difficulties in the bud and preventing their evolution into bigger
problems
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Effect/Effect size
The effect size indicates the underlying strength of the relationship
between the independent variable i.e. the factor that researcher is
systematically varying (e.g. parenting skills training), and the
dependent variable i.e. the factor that the researcher is expecting
changes in (e.g. child behaviour). While significance focuses on the
probability of the relationship between the variables occurring by
chance, effect size focuses on the magnitude of the effect of one
variable on another. It therefore provides an estimate of the extent of
effect of an independent variable on a dependent variable
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Group work
Services that are delivered to groups of parents at the same time,
either in a classroom style setting or more often in a workshop or
informal discussion-based format
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Individual work (also called one-to-one
work)
Services that involve a worker (professional or voluntary) and a single
individual recipient
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Intensity and duration of interventions (corresponds to the medical concept of 'dosage')
| Low/short |
six weeks or less, in sessional format (one off or regular) |
| Medium |
six to twelve weeks, in regular sessional format |
| High/long |
twelve to twenty six weeks, in regular sessional format |
| Intensive |
over twenty six weeks; or continuous for some
sustained period (e.g. 'wraparound' and residential services) |
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Manualised intervention
The intervention has a written manual or protocol describing the
objectives of the intervention, the 'theory of change' that underlies
the intervention, what precisely should be delivered in terms of content
(ie, a curriculum), and giving guidance to the practitioner about how to
structure and lead sessions.
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Non-experimental
Unlike experimental designs, non-experimental designs do not provide
evidence of causality, although some non-experimental designs may be
strongly suggestive of causal effects. Non-experimental approaches
such as correlational designs, for example, can show associations
between two variables that may imply a causal relationship. However,
whereas experimental designs are able to demonstrate that systematically
changes one variable (e.g. parenting skills) leads to change in another
variable (e.g. child behaviour), the same cannot be concluded from
non-experimental studies.
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Paraprofessional
Often used in the US literature to denote workers who have a basic level
of training in a given area, but who are not highly qualified
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Peer worker (or peer supporter)
Used to describe parents who are involved in delivering an intervention
(paid or unpaid), often offering informal befriending and support on the
basis that they share the same social circumstances and have had similar
experiences
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Primary prevention
Services that are aimed at addressing a need that may not yet have
become apparent, or at preventing a problem from developing in the first
place
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Professional
A worker with specialised training and qualifications in a particular area.
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Quasi-experimental
Quasi-experiments do not use random assignment of participants to
treatment and control groups, but do involve an experimental approach in
which the effect of one variable on another is assessed. However, lack
of randomisation of participants means that inferences about the causal
relationship between factors are more ambiguous. Quasi-experimental
designs vary in terms of the number of experimental groups involved
and the number of time points at which data are collected to assess
particaptns' progress. They include: a one group post test only design,
a one group pre test & post test design, a non-randomised post-test only
design, and non-randomised groups pre test & post test design.
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Randomised studies (also known as random
allocation; randomised controlled trials; RCTs)
Randomised studies are experimental studies characterised by the random
assignment of participants to experimental conditions, such as an
intervention (or 'treatment') group and a control group. They enable
the researcher to assess casual effects by examining the effects of one
factor (the 'independent' variable) on another factor or outcome (the
'dependent' variable). The randomised allocation of participants to
treatment groups reduces the probability of the results being due to
prior differences in characteristics of the groups, and increases the
likelihood of the results being due to the intervention.
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Secondary prevention (services for 'at risk'
groups)
Services that are aimed at families who are deemed especially at risk
for a particular problem - for example, services for parents who are
experiencing problems with parenting that could if left unattended lead
to child abuse.
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Significance
A test of significance helps to determine whether results are 'genuine'
or not. Typically the cut off point for deciding on the significance
of a result is set at the 5%level, or one in twenty probability level,
expressed as p<.05. This means that there is a 5% probability of the
observed results having occurred by chance, and a 95% probability that
the results indicate the presence of a 'genuine' or 'real' effect.
If the significance level of a test shows that the probability is
greater than 1 in 20 (i.e. p>.05), then the results are said to be
non-significant. In practice this means that any difference between,
for example, a group receiving an intervention and a control group,
could have arisen by chance rather than resulting from the effects of
the intervention.
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Single mode and multi-mode interventions
Single mode interventions involve a single activity (e.g. prescribing
medication for ADHD); multi-modal interventions offer combinations of
activities usually aimed at complementing each other (e.g., medication
and a programme of education about ADHD).
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Targeted services
A service that is provided to only some groups or individuals on
the basis of an assessment of their particular need (e.g. social
work; speech therapy; services for parents of children with conduct
disorders).
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Tertiary prevention / Treatment
Services provided for families who have identified problems in an area
of functioning and who need help to regain adequate or 'normal' levels
of functioning.
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Universal services
A service that is provided to everyone, irrespective of levels of need
(in the UK, examples would include primary health care services (GPs,
the Health Visiting service, and ante-natal classes)
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Validated (and unvalidated)
Generally only used in the context of quantitative methods, and with
similar meaning to the term 'standardised'. For the purposes of the
Review, we defined a validated measure (or 'instrument') as a scale
or questionnaire that had been pre-tested for statistical reliability
(i.e., stability over time) and for face and construct validity
(i.e. that the instrument actually does measure what it purports
to measure), and found to be reasonably robust. Often this would
involve testing and re-testing the instrument on a 'normal' sample
of the population of interest, so that the values to be expected in
a representative group of the population of interest are known and
'norms' can be established against which study results involving samples
can be assessed. Unvalidated measures on the other hand are usually
tailor-made for particular research studies and are of unknown (or
unreported) reliability and validity.
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