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The prevalence, correlates (child behaviour problems and negative parenting) and determinants (risk and protective factors) of parental need for support were examined in a community sample of 177 mothers with a child aged 1.5‐3.5 years, in order to draw a profile of families that need parenting support. A substantial number of the mothers reported needing support (40% reported need for information, 10% reported family and social support needs). This need was related to child behaviour problems and to negative parenting. Maternal depression, difficult temperament of the child and negative life events, as well as total number of risk factors, significantly predicted the need for support. Satisfaction with support (but not number of support sources) acted as a protective factor.

The purpose of this study was to test a new approach to deviancy training, that is, the shaping and reinforcing of disruptive behaviors in social interaction, which considers not only reinforcement, but also the modeling processes involved, as well as children's roles as either providers or receivers of the training.

Using teacher reports and observations from a semi-naturalistic experimental setting with young children, the authors examined the prevalence of provided and received modeling and positive reinforcement, as well as the concurrent contribution of behavior problems on these processes in friendship dyads using a convenience sample of six-year-old twins (N=783; 386 boys). Frequency analyses and linear and logistic regressions were conducted.

Results indicated that modeling and positive reinforcement – provided and received – were prevalent in this low-risk sample, that behavior problems were associated mainly with provided dimensions, and that deviancy training processes were also displayed between disruptive and non-disruptive children.

Findings are relevant to peer-oriented programs designed to prevent antisocial behaviors. Prevention should target these mixed friendships where deviant behavior likely begins.

This study provides preliminary support for a new measure of deviancy training, underscores the importance of the roles taken by children, and shows that deviancy training takes place between disruptive and non-disruptive young children.

This study examined the impact of a brief seminar series on positive parenting (Selected Triple P) on behavioural and emotional problems in pre‐adolescent children and on inter‐parental conflict, parenting style, relationship quality, parental adjustment and parental confidence. Two hundred and forty‐four parents with children aged four to seven years were assigned to one of three conditions: (a) partial exposure condition involving attendance at a single introductory seminar; (b) full exposure (attendance at all three seminars); or (c) a waitlist control group. Analyses were completed for the 109 participants for whom full data were obtained. There was a significant reduction in parental reports of problem child behaviour and dysfunctional parenting styles with the introductory seminar alone. However, exposure to all three seminars was associated with significant improvements in all dysfunctional parenting styles and in the level of inter‐parental conflict. There were no significant differences between conditions at post‐intervention on parental reports of depression, anxiety, stress, relationship quality or parental confidence. This study provides preliminary support for the efficacy of a brief universal parenting intervention in improving child behaviour and parenting variables associated with the development and maintenance of child conduct problems. The findings also offer preliminary support for the notion that positive outcomes for both parents and children can be achieved through the delivery of brief preventive parenting interventions that require minimal time commitments from parents.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of two intervention formats of the Positive Parenting Programme (Triple P) – Level 4 Group Triple P (TP) and brief parent discussion group (DI) with the waitlist control group (WL).

Participants included 91 Chinese parents with preschool children in Hong Kong from eight preschools, who were randomised into the two intervention conditions (TP and DI) and a waitlist control group (WL). Parent participants completed measures on child behaviours and parenting stress before and after intervention.

Results indicated that there was a significant decrease in post-intervention child behavioural problems in the TP group, with a medium effect size when compared to the WL group. There was a decrease in post-intervention child behaviour problems in the DI group, compared with the WL group. No significant difference was found in post-intervention child behaviour problems between the TP group and the DI group.

The positive results in the present study support the extension of the implementation of Triple P interventions to the preschool setting in Hong Kong. The effectiveness of the brief parent discussion group in reducing parental report of child behaviour problems provides preliminary support for its potential as a universal preventive parenting intervention in the local context.

The study was the first evaluation of the Level-4 Triple P programme in a local school context as well as the first evaluation of effectiveness of the brief parent discussion group in the local context at the time of the study.

This study examined the effectiveness of the Triple P‐Positive Parenting Program in a government child health service delivery context with Chinese parents in Hong Kong. Specifically, the study sought to identify pre‐intervention variables that might predict programme outcomes such as level of clinical improvement and programme completion. Participants were 661 parents of pre‐school and primary aged children participating in a group version of the Triple P‐Positive Parenting Program. There were significant decreases in disruptive child behaviours, levels of parenting stress, general stress and anxiety and an increase in parenting sense of competence. Greater change in reports of child behaviour problems was related to lower levels of family income, new immigrant family status, and higher pre‐intervention levels of parenting stress. The present study provides a profile of parents who are most likely to benefit from parent training programmes.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between sleep disturbances, gastrointestinal (GI) problems and eating behaviors in children who are diagnosed with autistic disorder (AD) and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS).

This study was conducted with 102 children who were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Sleeping and GI (abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, vomiting, difficulty swallowing) problems in children were obtained by asking their parents using a questionnaire. The feeding assessment survey (FAS), brief autism mealtime behavior inventory (BAMBI) and food consumption frequency were used to obtain information about the children’s eating habits.

The BAMBI total score, food refusal and features of autism subscale scores of those with AD were higher than those in the PDD-NOS group (p < 0.05). Sleeping, GI and eating problems are seen in those with AD more commonly than in those diagnosed with PDD-NOS.

To the knowledge, this is the first study that compares GI, sleeping and eating problems in children with AD and PDD-NOS. Sleeping, GI and eating problems may be more frequent in children with AD than in those with PDD-NOS. The GI problem rate is higher in children with autism with sleeping problems than without sleeping problems.

The aim of the study described here was to assess the types of additional specialist service available to adoptive parents participating in a randomised controlled trial (RCT) of post‐adoption support whose ex‐care children were showing substantial psychosocial problems. Parents from 37 families who volunteered for the RCT were asked about access to professional help with problems arising from the placement, additional to the tested support: questions focused on which services they had received, how long they waited and whether the services were, in their terms, satisfactory. The study found that 23 families had used or applied for 37 separate specialised services to support the child or family. Although 56% of families were positive about services, 12 families had waited more than a year for a first contact with specialists and 44% of parents said the services had not met their needs. The experiences of these parents show that more timely and targeted services are needed for adoptive families with a child with psychosocial problems.

Families referred to child welfare for maltreatment and neglect are frequently mandated to attend parenting programmes. Evidence‐based parenting programmes (EBPs) are under‐utilised or not delivered with fidelity for this population. The Incredible Years (IY) parenting programme is an EPB that has been proven to reduce harsh parenting, increase positive discipline and nurturing parenting, reduce conduct problems and improve children's social competence. There is also promising preliminary evidence that IY is an effective intervention for families involved in child welfare and for foster parents. This article describes how the updated IY parenting basic programme is delivered with fidelity to this population.

The main aim of this study is to explore characteristics of parents who signed up for parenting classes offered to the universal population and their reasons for participation.

Data were obtained from parents in a study on parent training for children aged two to eight years (n=189), and a follow up survey on these parents (n=118).

Parents had high education, were married, and employed in full time jobs. The mean age of the children was under four years, and their Intensity and Problem scores on ECBI were higher than the Norwegian mean scores for their age group. Parent stress, parental concern, and parenting practices predicted the ECBI Intensity scores to a rather large extent.

Parents with high SES risk factors may not come forward to participate in face‐to‐face mental health promotion interventions even if the parenting intervention is offered in a non‐stigmatising way.

By offering a universal health promoting and preventive parent training service in the community, a large proportion of children with behaviour problems were identified and referred to treatment. This demonstrates how parent training services, offered to the universal population, may contribute to increase the reach for the youngest children in need of treatment.

Autism spectrum disorder is a kind of neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and interaction across multiple contexts, and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests or activities. The purpose of this paper is to determine the effectiveness of sensory integration intervention on emotional-behavioral problems in children with autism spectrum disorder.

This research was conducted in a pretest-posttest design with control group. The participants were 30 children with autism spectrum disorder (6–11 years old) who were selected through convenience sampling from among children with autism spectrum disorder in Zeinab center of Isfahan and were randomly divided into two groups of 15 subjects. The children of the experimental group received 14 sessions of sensory integration intervention while the control group did not receive this intervention. To measure emotional-behavioral problems, the Behavior Assessment System for Children-Second Edition was used. To analyze the data, ANCOVA and MANCOVA tests were used.

The results showed that sensory integration intervention improves emotional-behavioral problems and its subscales (hyperactivity, aggression, behavioral problems, anxiety, depression, somatization, attention problems, learning difficulties, atypicality and withdrawal) in children with autism spectrum disorder.

Therefore, it can be concluded that sensory integration intervention can be a suitable treatment for reducing sensory problems and improving emotional-behavioral problems in children with autism spectrum disorder.

The study of the effect of sensory integration on emotional-behavioral problems in children with autism spectrum disorder is necessary as a simple and non-side-effect educational and therapeutic method, both as a step to fill the research gap in this field, besides being a cheap and affordable way for improving the various skills of children with autism spectrum disorder for professionals, teachers, parents and educators.