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ACT Raising Safe Kids Program improves parenting practices, beliefs about physical punishment, management of anger, and mental health: Initial evidence from a study in Brazil

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  • Lawrenz, Priscila
  • Yousafzai, Aisha Khizar
  • Habigzang, Luísa Fernanda

Abstract

The exposure to child maltreatment has negative consequences for children’s health and development. These serious consequences demonstrate how important it is to develop and implement effective prevention strategies. The ACT Raising Safe Kids Program was developed to prevent child maltreatment and teach positive parenting skills to parents and caregivers. The aim of the present study was to evaluate initial evidence of effectiveness of the ACT Program in Porto Alegre, capital of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The study is based on an intervention with one-group pretest-protest design. The sample comprised 47 mothers and 5 fathers with a mean age of 38.73 years (SD = 6.81). Parenting meetings were implemented over nine weeks with groups, on average, composed of nine participants. Parenting practices, physical punishment beliefs, anger, and mental health outcomes were assessed through self-report measures before and after participation in the ACT Program. Measures included sociodemographic data, ACT Evaluation Questionnaire, Physical Punishment Beliefs Scale, State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI-2), and Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Within-group comparisons were analyzed through paired samples t-test. The results indicated that parenting practices (emotional and behavioral regulation, communication, and positive discipline), physical punishment beliefs, levels of anger (angry temperament, angry reaction, anger expression-out, and anger control-in), and mental health outcomes (depression and stress) improved significantly from pretest to posttest. The findings indicate the messages were enacted by parents. Further evaluation is required to determine the impact on parenting of the ACT Program in this context employing a randomized controlled design.

Suggested Citation

  • Lawrenz, Priscila & Yousafzai, Aisha Khizar & Habigzang, Luísa Fernanda, 2021. "ACT Raising Safe Kids Program improves parenting practices, beliefs about physical punishment, management of anger, and mental health: Initial evidence from a study in Brazil," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:131:y:2021:i:c:s0190740921003753
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.106299
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Knox, Michele & Burkhart, Kimberly, 2014. "A multi-site study of the ACT Raising Safe Kids program: Predictors of outcomes and attrition," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 20-24.
    2. Weymouth, Lindsay Adelman & Howe, Tasha R., 2011. "A multi-site evaluation of Parents Raising Safe Kids Violence Prevention Program," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1960-1967, October.
    3. Altafim, Elisa Rachel Pisani & McCoy, Dana Charles & Linhares, Maria Beatriz Martins, 2018. "Relations between parenting practices, socioeconomic status, and child behavior in Brazil," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 93-102.
    4. Anilena Mejia & Divna Haslam & Matthew R. Sanders & Nicole Penman, 2017. "Protecting Children in Low- and Middle-Income Countries from Abuse and Neglect: Critical Challenges for Successful Implementation of Parenting Programmes," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 29(5), pages 1038-1052, November.
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