A population health approach to parenting support: Disseminating the Triple P-Positive Parenting Program in the Province of Antwerp

A healthy development and emotional well being of children is influenced by the amount of exposure to positive parenting strategies and the possibility to develop a secure and supportive relationship with their parents. This dissertation reports on the implementation process of a universal preventive parenting program. The first part of this dissertation focuses on the process and the evaluation of the project PROVANT, a population dissemination of the Triple P-program in the province of Antwerp. Preventive strategies work best when they can reduce risk factors, increase protective factors and promote healthy behaviour. This approach tries to change the behaviour of each individual member of the population in order to gain an effect on the level of the population's mean. Triple P shows to be effective in the province of Antwerp in reducing behavioural problems in children, dysfunctional parenting styles in parents and in increasing emotional well being in parents (especially in reducing parental stress and depression). Furthermore, both parents and practitioners report to be very satisfied with the program.;In the second part of this dissertation, we wanted to determine whether so-called 'families at risk' (families in poverty, parents with intellectual disabilities and parents of children with child psychiatric disorders) could be reached with a population approach in parenting support and if these families also report program effects. We found a significant reduction in child behavioural problems and dysfunctional parenting practices, but were not able to find changes in emotional well-being in parents of families who are living in poverty. A flexible implementation of the Triple P program can have an effect on the reduction of child behavioural problems, dysfunctional parenting styles and on an increase of emotional well-being in parents with intellectual disabilities. Level 4 Group Triple P also adds on the effects of care as usual in child psychiatry. We found better results in the decrease of child behavioural problems, parental stress and dysfunctional parenting styles when parents received the Triple P program on top of care as usual (compared to parents who only received care as usual).