TY - JOUR

T1 - Integrating Evidence and Context to Develop a Parenting Program for Low-Income Families in South Africa

AU - Lachman, Jamie M.

AU - Sherr, Liora T.

AU - Cluver, Lucie

AU - Ward, Catherine L.

AU - Hutchings, Judith

AU - Gardner, Frances

N1 - John Fell Fund (103/757) and the World Health Organization (SPHQ12-APW-851). European Research Council (ERC) grant under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ ERC grant agreement 313421, the Philip Leverhulme Trust (PLP-2014-095), and the ESRC Impact Acceleration Account.

PY - 2016/7/1

Y1 - 2016/7/1

N2 - Children living in low- and middle-income countries, such as South Africa, face elevated risks of child maltreatment. Although evidence-based parenting programs have been shown to reduce rates of abuse in high-income countries, few studies have examined their effectiveness in low- and middle-income countries. Moreover, local cultural contexts may require the adaptation of evidence-based approaches in order to assure program acceptability and effectiveness. This study focused on the systematic development of an evidence-informed, locally relevant parenting program for socioeconomically disadvantaged families with parents of children aged 3–8 years, in Cape Town, South Africa. Intervention development took place over three stages: (a) identification of common core intervention components in evidence-based parenting programs (b) formative evaluation using qualitative in-depth interviews and semi-structured focus groups with local practitioners and low-income parents, and (c) development of intervention structure, format, and protocols. The process resulted in a manualized, group-based, 12-session parenting program that integrated existing evidence of effective components within a local, culturally relevant context. Recommended next steps are rigorous piloting to test feasibility and preliminary intervention effects followed by experimental trials to examine intervention effectiveness in a real-world setting.

AB - Children living in low- and middle-income countries, such as South Africa, face elevated risks of child maltreatment. Although evidence-based parenting programs have been shown to reduce rates of abuse in high-income countries, few studies have examined their effectiveness in low- and middle-income countries. Moreover, local cultural contexts may require the adaptation of evidence-based approaches in order to assure program acceptability and effectiveness. This study focused on the systematic development of an evidence-informed, locally relevant parenting program for socioeconomically disadvantaged families with parents of children aged 3–8 years, in Cape Town, South Africa. Intervention development took place over three stages: (a) identification of common core intervention components in evidence-based parenting programs (b) formative evaluation using qualitative in-depth interviews and semi-structured focus groups with local practitioners and low-income parents, and (c) development of intervention structure, format, and protocols. The process resulted in a manualized, group-based, 12-session parenting program that integrated existing evidence of effective components within a local, culturally relevant context. Recommended next steps are rigorous piloting to test feasibility and preliminary intervention effects followed by experimental trials to examine intervention effectiveness in a real-world setting.

KW - Child maltreatment

KW - Intervention development

KW - Parenting programs

KW - Formative evaluation

KW - South Africa

U2 - 10.1007/s10826-016-0389-6

DO - 10.1007/s10826-016-0389-6

M3 - Article

VL - 25

SP - 2337

EP - 2352

JO - Journal of Child and Family Studies

JF - Journal of Child and Family Studies

SN - 1062-1024

IS - 7

ER -