Experiences of Parenting. Understanding parents' views on parenting and programs for parents

The current trial aims to test the effectiveness of engagement strategies based on the constructs of the Health Belief Model (HBM) and the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) on the initial engagement (i.e. recruitment, enrolment, and first attendance) of parents of young children to parenting interventions. We will focus on the message communicated in the engagement strategy and the format used as a channel to communicate that message. The message will be communicated by a parent, involving about 100 words for the written format and at about 1 minute for the video format. Thus, this 2x2 double-blind trial will consist of two experimental studies, each one of which will test a theory; Experiment 1 focuses on HBM and Experiment 2 tests the TPB. Thus, the intervention arms for Experiment 1 are 1) benefits-video (ES1), 2) benefits-written (ES2), 3) costs-video (ES3), and 4) costs-written (ES4). The intervention arms for Experiment 2 are 1) subjective norms-video (ES5), 2) subjective norms-written (ES6), 3) attitudes-video (ES7), and 4) attitudes-written (ES8). Both experiments 2 will be conducted in sequence. Once Experiment 1 reaches the required sample size (Stage 1), Experiment 2 will be conducted (Stage 2). Thus, participants will take part in the Experiment running at the time of their participation in the study. Eligible participants will be parents of children aged 2 to 12 years old in Australia. We aim to recruit 164 parents per experiment (total sample of 328 parents across experiments). In terms of the procedure, parents will be recruited from different sources, such as childcare and schools, social media, and parent organisations. Parents will be invited to visit the research project website to share their views on parenting. Those parents who access the website will be directed to the information sheet, consent form, and some of the measures (demographics, past participation, child behaviour problems, parental self-efficacy, and parenting practices). Immediately after completing these measures, parents will be randomly exposed to one of the four conditions for that experiment (i.e., ES1-ES4 for Experiment 1, and ES5-ES8 for Experiment 2). Once parents are exposed to the corresponding condition, they will be asked to answer the manipulation check questions (i.e., questions regarding the source of information and format of the manipulation) and the two questionnaires based on the HBM (i.e. questions regarding benefits and barriers) and TPB (i.e., questions regarding subjective norms, attitudes, and perceived behavioural control). After they answer these questions, parents will complete initial parental engagement measures (i.e. recruitment, enrolment). If parents answer ‘Yes’ to the enrolment question, they will be asked to provide contact details (name and both telephone and email, indicating preferred contact method) to receive the particular parenting intervention (Self-Directed Positive Parenting Program-Triple P) by mail. The Self-Directed Triple P is an intervention that parents can complete at their own pace. It has shown to have comparable effectiveness to other delivery formats and receive positive feedback from parents. When parents select ‘Yes”, they will be directed to a new page where they will provide contact details. Within a month, parents will be asked regarding their progress in the self-directed workbook, which will indicate if they have completed the action considered as first attendance. Once participants complete this follow-up contact, their participation in the trial ends.