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Impact of a Brief Family Skills Training Programme (“Strong Families”) on Parenting Skills, Child Psychosocial Functioning, and Resilience in Iran: A Multisite Controlled Trial

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  • Karin Haar

    (Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation Section, Drug Prevention and Health Branch, Division of Operations, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Wagramer Strasse 5, A-1400 Vienna, Austria)

  • Aala El-Khani

    (Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation Section, Drug Prevention and Health Branch, Division of Operations, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Wagramer Strasse 5, A-1400 Vienna, Austria)

  • Gelareh Mostashari

    (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Field Office I.R. of Iran, P.O. Box 15875-4557, Tehran 1994715311, Iran)

  • Mahdokht Hafezi

    (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Field Office I.R. of Iran, P.O. Box 15875-4557, Tehran 1994715311, Iran)

  • Atoosa Malek

    (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Field Office I.R. of Iran, P.O. Box 15875-4557, Tehran 1994715311, Iran)

  • Wadih Maalouf

    (Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation Section, Drug Prevention and Health Branch, Division of Operations, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Wagramer Strasse 5, A-1400 Vienna, Austria)

Abstract

Caregivers have a key role in protecting children’s wellbeing, and, with appropriate skills, can prevent a multitude of negative social outcomes, particularly in challenged or humanitarian settings. Accordingly, the Strong Families programme was designed as a light touch family skills programme, with a focus of supporting caregiving during stressful situations. To evaluate the short-term impact of the Strong Families programme, we performed a time-convenience, randomized, controlled trial in Iran. A total of 292 families (63% from Iranian decent, 39% from Afghan decent, and 1% other), with children aged eight to twelve years, were recruited through ten centers in Iran and allocated to an intervention ( n = 199) or waitlist/control group ( n = 93). The two groups did not differ demographically at baseline. We assessed families prospectively, through three scales, PAFAS (parenting and family adjustment scales), SDQ (strengths and difficulties questionnaire), and CYRM-R (child and youth resilience measure). Caregivers in the intervention group improved (highly) statistically significantly on all but one PAFAS subscales (parental consistency, coercive parenting, positive encouragement, parental adjustment, family relationships, and parental teamwork), which was not noted in the waitlist group. On the SDQ, there were (highly) significant positive changes in scores in the intervention group on all sub-scales and the “total difficulty scale“, whereas the waitlist/control group also improved on three (prosocial, conduct problems, and hyperactivity) of the five SDQ subscales. Children originating from Afghanistan improved significantly on the overall resilience scale of the CYRM-R in the intervention group, but not in the waitlist/control group. Overall, all our stratified results of the different scales reflect an accentuated improvement in families with higher levels of problems at baseline. Our comparative results indicated a strong alignment of the strong families programme with its intended short-term impact, per its logical frame on parenting practices and family management skills, children behaviour, caregivers and children mental health, and capacity to cope with stress. We postulate that the potential nudging or diffusion of knowledge (cross-contamination between intervention and waitlist/control group) at the community level could explain improvements in the waitlist/control group on some indicators, however, further research on this is recommend.

Suggested Citation

  • Karin Haar & Aala El-Khani & Gelareh Mostashari & Mahdokht Hafezi & Atoosa Malek & Wadih Maalouf, 2021. "Impact of a Brief Family Skills Training Programme (“Strong Families”) on Parenting Skills, Child Psychosocial Functioning, and Resilience in Iran: A Multisite Controlled Trial," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-38, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:21:p:11137-:d:663133
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kenneth F Schulz & Douglas G Altman & David Moher & for the CONSORT Group, 2010. "CONSORT 2010 Statement: Updated Guidelines for Reporting Parallel Group Randomised Trials," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(3), pages 1-7, March.
    2. Aala El-Khani & Karin Haar & Milos Stojanovic & Wadih Maalouf, 2021. "Assessing the Feasibility of Providing a Family Skills Intervention, “Strong Families”, for Refugee Families Residing in Reception Centers in Serbia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-19, April.
    3. Aala El-Khani & Kim Cartwright & Wadih Maalouf & Karin Haar & Nosheen Zehra & Gökçe Çokamay-Yılmaz & Rachel Calam, 2021. "Enhancing Teaching Recovery Techniques (TRT) with Parenting Skills: RCT of TRT + Parenting with Trauma-Affected Syrian Refugees in Lebanon Utilising Remote Training with Implications for Insecure Cont," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-20, August.
    4. Behnaz Kazerooni Zand & Linda Liebenberg & Zohreh Sepehri Shamloo, 2017. "Validation of the Factorial Structure of the Child and Youth Resilience Measure for Use with Iranian Youth," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 10(3), pages 797-809, September.
    5. Mohammad Jalal Abbasi-Shavazi & Rasoul Sadeghi & Hossein Mahmoudian & Gholamreza Jamshidiha, 2012. "Marriage and Family Formation of the Second-Generation Afghans in Iran: Insights from a Qualitative Study," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(4), pages 828-860, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Aala El-Khani & Rachel Calam & Karin Haar & Wadih Maalouf, 2022. "Bridging the Gap between the Pressing Need for Family Skills Programmes in Humanitarian Settings and Implementation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-7, February.
    2. Karin Haar & Aala El-Khani & Riccardo Lodi & Valentina Molin & Annalisa Pelosi & Ali Yassine & Giovanna Campello & Wadih Maalouf, 2023. "Assessing the Efficacy of a Brief Universal Family Skills Programme on Violence and Substance-Use Indicators in Youth in Trentino and Parma, Italy: Study Protocol for a Multi-Centre, Non-Blinded, Clus," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(16), pages 1-18, August.

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