Evaluation of the Positive Discipline in Everyday Parenting (PDEP) program
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN17697307 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN17697307 |
| Secondary identifying numbers | 435-2017-0194 |
- Submission date
- 18/08/2018
- Registration date
- 10/09/2018
- Last edited
- 24/09/2024
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Other
Plain English Summary
Background and study aims
Research in Canada shows that many parents accept and use physical punishment with their children. Using physical punishment can be a risk factor for children. It has been linked with problems like physical aggression and strained parent-child relationships. The Positive Discipline in Everyday Parenting (PDEP) is a group program for parents that focuses on decreasing parents’ use of physical punishment and increasing non-violent discipline. Preliminary findings show that PDEP can help to reduce parents’ use of physical and emotional punishment and to improve parent-child relationships. PDEP also seems to work with different cultures and in different countries. Our study wishes to understand the effects of the PDEP program using a more rigorous research approach. This will allow us to make stronger conclusions about whether PDEP works to change the way parents think about discipline and the discipline strategies they use.
Who can participate?
Parents who have a child aged 2-6 and can communicate in English
What does the study involve?
There will be 2 groups of parents - those who will participate in the first PDEP group, and those who will be on a waiting list to participate in PDEP once the first is completed. Whilst the first PDEP program takes place, parents in both groups will complete study questionnaires, provide open-ended responses to challenging parenting scenarios, and participate in a brief videotaped interaction with their child. These data collection components will be completed at the start and end of the first PDEP program, and 1 and 3 months afterwards. The PDEP program will involve identifying long-term parenting goals, understand how children think and feel, and responding with positive discipline. Note that we will have both in-person PDEP programs as well as on-line groups - the latter was developed to respond to COVID-19 physical distancing measures. Since the end of the pandemic, agencies have decided to adopt a hybrid model, with some in-person groups and some virtual groups. At the end of the first PDEP program, parents who were in this group may be asked to take part in an interview to hear about what they found helpful and if they have any suggestions for improvements. Once the second PDEP program begins, we will not be collecting any more information or data.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
The possible benefit to parents taking part in this program is the opportunity to learn new ways of parenting that do not involve punishment and can help to strengthen their relationship with their child. There are no major risks to parents taking part in this program, other than that they may feel tired from completing questionnaires, watching video clips and participating in an interview. Additionally, some questions in the questionnaires might make them feel a little uncomfortable, as they ask about parenting and their child's behaviour.
Where is the study run from?
University of Ottawa (Canada) as well as child and family centres in Ottawa and surrounding areas; 1 centre in southern Ontario (Canada); and 1 centre in Calgary, Alberta (Canada)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
March 2017 to March 2024
Who is funding the study?
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Canada)
Who is the main contact?
Dr. Elisa Romano, Ph.D., C.Psych.
eromano@uottawa.ca
Contact information
Public
School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, 136 Jean-Jacques Lussier, Vanier Pavillion
Ottawa
K1N 6N5
Canada
| Phone | 613-562-5800 ext. 4403 |
|---|---|
| eromano@uottawa.ca |
Study information
| Study design | Interventional multi-centre quasi-experimental study with an internal qualitative interview study to examine parental perceptions of the intervention |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Non randomised study |
| Study setting(s) | Community |
| Study type | Treatment |
| Participant information sheet | Not available in web format, please use contact details to request a participant information sheet |
| Scientific title | The Positive Discipline in Everyday Parenting (PDEP) program for community-based parents: a quasi-experimental study to examine parenting behaviours, stress, emotion regulation, problem solving and discipline attitudes, along with child behaviours |
| Study acronym | PDEP Study |
| Study hypothesis | Current study hypothesis as of 24/09/2024: In the summer of 2021, the team decided to add several tasks to the evaluation that were not based on parental self-report. The first task involved a child-parent videotaped interaction that was 10 minutes in length. This task was completed at pre- and post-PDEP, as well as at 1-month follow-up and 3-month follow-up (only for the experimental group at 3-month follow-up). The videotapes were coded using a system on which the research group was trained for parental and child constructs. It was hypothesized that compared to the wait-list group, parents who complete PDEP (in the experimental group) will be rated higher on positive parent and child behaviours (e.g., parental sensitivity, child engagement) and lower on negative behaviours (e.g., parental hostility). Any gains for the experimental group are expected to be maintained through the two follow-up sessions. The other task introduced was around parental responses to challenging parenting scenarios. Parents were presented with three challenging scenarios and asked how they would respond. The responses were audio recorded, transcribed, and coded as per a manual developed to map punitive parenting practices and positive discipline. This task was completed at pre- and post-PDEP, and at 3-month follow-up (only for the experimental group). It is hypothesized that compared to the wait-list group, the responses of parents who complete PDEP (in the experimental group) will tap into more constructs around a positive discipline (e.g., warmth, parental emotion regulation) and into fewer constructs around punishment (e.g., yelling, hitting, time-out). Any gains for the experimental group are expected to be maintained through the 3-month follow-up period. Current study hypothesis as of 05/08/2021: 1. Compared to the wait-list group, parents who complete the PDEP program (in the experimental group) will report significantly greater use of non-punitive parenting behaviours, less favourable attitudes toward physical punishment, less stress, better emotion regulation, better problem-solving, and fewer child behaviour problems. Parents in the experimental group will also demonstrate more positive parenting behaviours from pre- to post-program, compared with parents in the wait-list group. 2. These gains for the PDEP parents in the experimental group will be maintained at 1 and 3-month follow-up. Previous study hypothesis: 1. Compared to the wait-list group, parents who complete the PDEP program (in the experimental group) will report significantly greater use of non-punitive parenting behaviours, less favourable attitudes toward physical punishment, less stress, better emotion regulation, better problem-solving, and fewer child behaviour problems. 2. These gains for the PDEP parents in the experimental group will be maintained at 1 and 3-month follow-up. |
| Ethics approval(s) |
Approved 04/07/2018, Office of Research Ethics and Integrity, University of Ottawa (550 Cumberland Street, Room 154, Ottawa, K1N 6N5, Canada; +1 613-562-5800; ethics@uottawa.ca), ref: H-05-18-630 |
| Condition | Parenting behaviours Parenting attitudes toward physical punishment Parenting skills (stress, emotion regulation, problem solving) Child behaviours |
| Intervention | Current interventions as of 24/09/2024: It should be noted that, while the goal was randomization of parents to either the experimental or wait-list control group, the majority of parents who participated in the research did not agree to randomization (primarily because of timing and scheduling issues) so the research design can best be described as quasi-experimental. Two additional evaluation tasks have been added - namely the videotaped child-parent interactions and the parental responses to challenging parenting scenarios. The administration of these tasks followed the same procedures outlined below. An analogue measure was not used in the end. Also, as updated in the project title, the study design still included an experimental and wait-list control. However, parents were not randomly assigned as only a minority of parents agreed with this component of the study. Given the retention of as large of a sample size as possible, it was decided to adopt a quasi-experimental approach so that parents could choose when they wished to complete the PDEP program. PDEP was developed to prevent violence against children. It is a universal group program for parents of children from newborn to 18 years that focuses on helping parents shift away from rewards and punishments towards problem-solving and communication. There are 8 2-hour sessions for parents, and group sizes may vary from 5 to 20 parents. Note that because of COVID-19, there is also an online version of the PDEP program that will be available starting in the fall of 2021. The content is the same but the program extends over 9 2-hour sessions to allow some time to explain the technology to parents and to allow time for the program facilitators to use the various technological options (e.g., Zoom, excel sheets). Trained PDEP facilitators deliver the program through community-based centres. The sessions will involve the identification of long-term parenting goals, providing warmth and structure, understanding how children think and feel at different ages, and problem-solving and responding with positive discipline. For the research design, approximately 2-3 weeks before the start of the first PDEP group within an agency, all parents who provided verbal consent will be contacted by the researchers to invite them to complete a questionnaire package (after providing written consent). There are 2 additional data collection components in which parents may participate: 1) brief videotaped parent-child interaction and 2) parental open-ended responses to three scenarios developed around challenging parenting scenarios (e.g., the child is not ready to leave the home even though the child and parent are late for an appointment). After parents have one or more of the data collection components (i.e., questionnaire, interaction, scenarios) and before the start of the first PDEP group, parents will be contacted by the researchers and informed of their assignment to either this first PDEP group (experimental group) or the wait-list condition. Parents in the first PDEP group will complete the 8-week program (or 9 weeks if online). Within 1 week of the program ending, all parents will be invited the complete the data collection components a second time. All parents will again be asked to complete the data collection components for a third time approximately 1 month after completion of the first PDEP group. The data collection components will be completed for a fourth time approximately 3 months after completion of the first PDEP group. Finally, after completion of the first group (experimental group in the fall), a subset of parents will be invited to complete a one-on-one interview to better understand their perceptions of the PDEP program. Current interventions as of 05/08/2021: Parents will be randomly assigned to participate in the PDEP program (experimental group) or a wait-list condition (where they will participate in the PDEP program once the experimental group has been completed). PDEP was developed with the aim of preventing violence against children. It is a universal group program for parents of children newborn to 18 years that focuses on helping parents shift away from rewards and punishments towards problem-solving and communication. There are 8 2-hour sessions for parents, and group sizes may vary from 5 to 20 parents. Note that because of COVID-19, there is also an online version of the PDEP program that will be available starting in the fall of 2021. The content is the same but the program extends over 9 2-hour sessions to allow some time to explain the technology to parents and to allow time for the program facilitators to use the various technological options (e.g., Zoom, excel sheets). Trained PDEP facilitators deliver the program through community-based centres. The sessions will involve the identification of long-term parenting goals, providing warmth and structure, understanding how children think and feel at different ages, and problem-solving and responding with positive discipline. For the research design, approximately 2-3 weeks prior to the start of the first PDEP group within an agency, all parents who provided verbal consent will be contacted by the researchers to invite them to complete a questionnaire package (after providing written consent). There are 2 additional data collection components in which parents may participate: 1) brief videotaped parent-child interaction and 2) parental open-ended responses to three scenarios that we developed around challenging parenting scenarios (e.g., child is not ready to leave the home even though the child and parent are late for an appointment). After parents have one or more of the data collection components (i.e., questionnaire, interaction, scenarios) and prior to the start of the first PDEP group, parents will be contacted by the researchers and informed of their assignment to either this first PDEP group (experimental group) or the wait-list condition. We will randomly assign parents to either the first or second PDEP group by way of a random numbers table. We will use this randomization strategy each time that PDEP is offered. For example, if PDEP were offered in the fall of 2018 in one agency and 20 parents had expressed an interest in the research study, we would randomly assign 10 parents to PDEP and 10 to the wait-list group. Parents who are randomly assigned to the first PDEP group will complete the 8-week program (or 9 weeks if online). Within 1 week of the program ending, all parents (those who just completed PDEP and those on the wait-list) will be invited the complete the data collection components a second time. All parents will again be asked to complete the data collection components for a third time approximately 1 month after completion of the first PDEP group. The data collection components will be completed for a fourth time approximately 3 months after completion of the first PDEP group, but it should be noted that this will only occur for parents who completed the program because those on the wait-list will have begun their PDEP program by this point in time so as to avoid any further delays in receiving services. Finally, after completion of the first group (experimental group in the fall), we will invite a subset of parents to complete a one-on-one interview so that we may better understand their perceptions of the PDEP program. Added 15/12/2022: It should be noted that, while the goal was randomization of parents to either the experimental or wait-list control group, the majority of parents who participated in the research did not agree to randomization (primarily because of timing and scheduling issues) so the research design can best be described as quasi-experimental. Previous interventions: Parents will be randomly assigned to participate in the PDEP program (experimental group) or a wait-list condition (where they will participate in the PDEP program once the experimental group has been completed). PDEP was developed with the aim of preventing violence against children. It is a universal group program for parents of children newborn to 18 years that focuses on helping parents shift away from rewards and punishments towards problem-solving and communication. There are 8 2-hour sessions for parents, and group sizes may vary from 5 to 20 parents. Trained PDEP facilitators deliver the program through community-based centres. The sessions will involve the identification of long-term parenting goals, providing warmth and structure, understanding how children think and feel at different ages, and problem-solving and responding with positive discipline. For the research design, approximately 2-3 weeks prior to the start of the first PDEP group within an agency, all parents who provided verbal consent will be contacted by the researchers to invite them to complete a questionnaire package (after providing written consent). After parents have completed the self-report questionnaires and prior to the start of the first PDEP group, parents will be contacted by the researchers and informed of their assignment to either this first PDEP group (experimental group) or the wait-list condition. We will randomly assign parents to either the first or second PDEP group by way of a random numbers table. We will use this randomization strategy each time that PDEP is offered. For example, if PDEP were offered in the fall of 2018 in one agency and 20 parents had expressed an interest in the research study, we would randomly assign 10 parents to PDEP and 10 to the wait-list group. Parents who are randomly assigned to the first PDEP group will complete the 8-week program. Within 1 week of the program ending, all parents (those who just completed PDEP and those on the wait-list) will be invited the complete the questionnaire package for a second time. All parents will again be asked to complete the questionnaire for a third time approximately 1 month after completion of the first PDEP group. The questionnaire package will be completed for a fourth time approximately 3 months after completion of the first PDEP group, but it should be noted that this will only occur for parents who completed the program because those on the wait-list will have begun their PDEP program by this point in time so as to avoid any further delays in receiving services. In addition to the parent self-report questionnaires, we also intend to use an analogue measure (video clips of parent-child interactions) for a subset of parents (starting in the second year of data collection). The procedure for administering this measure will follow that of the questionnaires, namely prior to the start of the first PDEP program and then again at post-PDEP as well as at 1 and 3 month follow-up. |
| Intervention type | Behavioural |
| Primary outcome measure | Current primary outcome measure as of 24/09/2024: Unless specified, the following measures are assessed at baseline (pre-PDEP program), at the end of the program (post-PDEP program, and 1 and 3 months after the end of the program. 1. Socio-demographics, assessed by parent self-report at the baseline 2. Approval of physical and non-physical punishment, assessed using the PDEP Questionnaire 3. Subjective developmental norms, assessed using the PDEP Questionnaire 4. Parenting self-efficacy, assessed using the PDEP Questionnaire 5. Use of various disciplinary strategies, assessed using the PDEP Questionnaire 6. Attitudes towards spanking, assessed using the Attitudes Towards Spanking (ATS) Scale 7. Parenting stress, assessed using the Parenting Daily Hassles (PDH) Scale 8. Emotion regulation, assessed using the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) 9. Problem solving, assessed using the Personal Problem Solving Inventory 10. Child behaviours, assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) 11. Parenting practices, assessed using the Mindfulness in Parenting Questionnaire (MPQ), as well as through coding of parents' open-ended responses to three challenging parenting scenarios and coding of brief parent-child interactions (using the observational coding system called Emotional Availability Scales). 12. Videotaped coding for parental and child behaviours, assessed using the Emotional Availability Scale (Biringne) and the Ainsworth Parental Sensitivity Scale 13. Coding, as per the developed manual, of the parental responses to challenging scenarios to capture positive discipline (as defined through the PDEP program) and punishment Previous primary outcome measure as of 05/08/2021: Unless specified, the following measures are assessed at baseline (pre-PDEP program), at the end of the program (post-PDEP program, and 1 and 3 months after the end of the program. 1. Socio-demographics, assessed by parent self-report at the baseline 2. Approval of physical and non-physical punishment, assessed using the PDEP Questionnaire 3. Subjective developmental norms, assessed using the PDEP Questionnaire 4. Parenting self-efficacy, assessed using the PDEP Questionnaire 5. Use of various disciplinary strategies, assessed using the PDEP Questionnaire 6. Attitudes towards spanking, assessed using the Attitudes Towards Spanking (ATS) Scale 7. Parenting stress, assessed using the Parenting Daily Hassles (PDH) Scale 8. Emotion regulation, assessed using the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) 9. Problem solving, assessed using the Personal Problem Solving Inventory 10. Child behaviours, assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) 11. Parenting practices, assessed using the Mindfulness in Parenting Questionnaire (MPQ), as well as through coding of parents' open-ended responses to three challenging parenting scenarios and coding of brief parent-child interactions (using the observational coding system called Emotional Availability Scales). Previous primary outcome measure: Unless specified, the following measures are assessed at the baseline, at the end of the intervention, and 1 and 3 months after the end of the intervention 1. Socio-demographics, assessed by patient self-report at the baseline 2. Approval of physical and non-physical punishment, assessed using the PDEP Questionnaire 3. Subjective developmental norms, assessed using the PDEP Questionnaire 4. Parenting self-efficacy, assessed using the PDEP Questionnaire 5. Use of various disciplinary strategies, assessed using the PDEP Questionnaire 6. Attitudes towards spanking, assessed using the Attitudes Towards Spanking (ATS) Scale 7. Parenting stress, assessed using the Parenting Daily Hassles (PDH) Scale 8. Emotion regulation, assessed using the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) 9. Problem solving, assessed using the Personal Problem Solving Inventory 10. Child behaviours, assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) 11. Parenting discipline attitudes, assessed through questioning parents after watching video clips of parent-child interactions |
| Secondary outcome measures | Parent satisfaction with the intervention, assessed using an interview with a subset of randomly selected parents at the end of the intervention. This interview will explore their experience with the PDEP program, including what was and was not helpful, the changes they experienced in their parenting attitudes, behaviours, and skills, and to what they attributed the changes. |
| Overall study start date | 15/03/2017 |
| Overall study end date | 31/03/2024 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Carer |
|---|---|
| Age group | Adult |
| Lower age limit | 2 Years |
| Upper age limit | 6 Years |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | Across our collaborating agencies and over the study's 3-year duration, we anticipate reaching a minimum sample of 200 parents, with approximately equal numbers in the first PDEP group that is offered in a given year and in the second group (wait-list) |
| Participant inclusion criteria | Carers (parents) who: 1. Have a child aged 2-6 years 2. Feel comfortable with the English language 3. Are not completing any other parenting program while they are completing PDEP (or while they are waiting to complete PDEP should they be assigned to the wait-list condition) |
| Participant exclusion criteria | N/A |
| Recruitment start date | 01/09/2018 |
| Recruitment end date | 31/10/2023 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- Canada
Study participating centres
Arnprior
K7S 3W4
Canada
Calgary
T1Y 6C1
Canada
Orléans
K1E 3J4
Canada
Pembroke
K8A 0A4
Canada
Townsend
N0A 1S0
Canada
Ottawa
K1L 1A2
Canada
Killaloe
K0J 2A0
Canada
Ottawa
K2B 6R7
Canada
London
N6B 2Y3
Canada
Sponsor information
University/education
75 Laurier Avenue East
Ottawa
K1N 6N5
Canada
| Phone | 613-562-5800 |
|---|---|
| uottawainfo@uottawa.ca | |
| Website | https://www.uottawa.ca/ |
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/03c4mmv16 |
Funders
Funder type
Not defined
Government organisation / National government
- Alternative name(s)
- Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, sshrc_crsh, Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada, SSHRC, SSHRC-CRSH
- Location
- Canada
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 31/12/2024 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Available on request |
| Publication and dissemination plan | We plan to disseminate our findings to academic audiences by way of presentations at national and international conferences and also by way of publications in peer-reviewed journals. We will also disseminate our findings to non-academic audiences, such as the agencies with whom we are collaborating on this project and other community-based agencies that work with families. Dissemination activities will most likely occur toward the end of the project's duration once all data have been collected and analyzed. We intend to present data from the parent self-report measures (pre- and post-program as well as follow-up), the analogue measures (pre- and post-program as well as follow-up), and the parent interviews (post-program). |
| IPD sharing plan | The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study may be available should there be any joint research projects with researchers in other settings. |
Editorial Notes
24/09/2024: The following changes have been made:
1. The scientific title was changed from "The Positive Discipline in Everyday Parenting (PDEP) program for community-based parents: a randomized controlled trial to examine parenting behaviours, stress, emotion regulation, problem solving and discipline attitudes, along with child behaviours".
2. The study hypothesis was updated.
3. The study design was changed from "Interventional multi-centre randomized controlled trial with an internal qualitative interview study to examine parental perceptions of the intervention".
4. The secondary study design was changed from a randomised controlled trial to a non-randomised one.
5. The interventions were updated.
6. The primary outcome measure was updated.
7. Mothercraft Ottawa was removed from the study participating centres.
8. The intention to publish date was changed from 31/03/2024 to 31/12/2024.
13/09/2023: The recruitment end date was changed from 30/09/2023 to 31/10/2023.
15/12/2022: The following changes were made to the trial record:
1. The interventions were updated.
2. The recruitment end date was changed from 30/08/2023 to 30/09/2023.
3. Child Reach was added to the trial participating centres.
10/03/2022: The intention to publish date has been changed from 31/03/2022 to 31/03/2024.
01/09/2021: Recruitment for this study is no longer paused.
05/08/2021: The following changes have been made:
1. The recruitment end date has been changed from 01/09/2021 to 30/08/2023.
2. The overall trial end date has been changed from 31/03/2022 to 31/03/2024 and the plain English summary has been updated to reflect this change.
3. The intention to publish date has been changed from 31/03/2022 to 31/03/2024.
4. The study design has been changed from "Interventional multi-centre randomised controlled trial" to "Interventional multi-centre randomized controlled trial with an internal qualitative interview study to examine parental perceptions of the intervention".
5. The study hypothesis has been updated.
6. The interventions have been updated.
7. The primary outcome measure has been updated.
8. The trial participating centre "Families Matter" has been added and the trial participating centre "Lowertown Community Resource Centre" has been removed.
9. The plain English summary has been updated.
27/04/2020: Due to current public health guidance, recruitment for this study has been paused.
