The Thriving Kids and Parents Schools Project: Protocol of an Incomplete Stepped Wedged Cluster Randomised Trial Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Triple P Seminar Series

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The pandemic has significantly impacted the day-to-day lives of many children, their families, and schools, which has resulted in increased levels of anxiety, depression, social isolation, and loneliness among young people. An integrated public health model of interventions is needed to address the problem and to safeguard the mental health and wellbeing of children. The Triple P – Positive Parenting Program is a system of evidence-based parenting with a strong evidence-base and wide international reach. When implemented as a public health approach, this program has demonstrated positive effects on child wellbeing at a population level. The current study is the first large-scale, multi-site randomised controlled trial of a newly developed, low-intensity variant of Triple P, a schools-based seminar series, as a response to the impacts of the pandemic. The evaluation will employ an Incomplete Batched Stepped Wedge Cluster Randomised Trial Design. At least 300 Australian primary schools, from South Australia, Queensland, and Victoria will be recruited and randomised in three batches. Within each batch, schools will be randomly assigned to either start the intervention immediately or start in six weeks. Parents will be recruited from participating schools. The Triple P seminar series includes three seminars titled: “The Power of Positive Parenting”, “Helping Your Child to Manage Anxiety”, and “Keeping your child safe from Bullying”. Parents will complete measures about child wellbeing, parenting, parenting self-regulation and other key intervention targets at baseline, six weeks after baseline, and 12 weeks after baseline. Intervention effectiveness will be evaluated with a Multilevel Piecewise Latent Growth Curve Modelling approach. Based on the strong evidence for the more intensive versions of each of the seminars, we anticipate finding improvements in primary intervention targets, including child social, emotional, and behavioural wellbeing, general parenting practices, and parenting self-efficacy/self-regulation. We also expect to find improvements in secondary outcomes such as child anxiety, depression, family adjustment, and specific parenting practices that facilitate child anxiety. The findings from this study will extend the current knowledge of the effects of evidence-based parenting support delivered through brief, universally offered, low intensity school-based parenting seminars in a post pandemic world.