The effect and experience of the brief parental program AFFEKT within primary health care – for parents of children with externalizing behaviors

Research problems and questionsScientific evaluations on brief parent interventions for parents of children with externalizing behaviors within primary health care is missing.

What effect does the parent program AFFEKT have, in comparison with psychoeducation, on children’s’ externalizing behaviors and mental health? How is the effect over time? Do changes in the parents’ outcomes mediate changes in the children’s outcomes?

How is AFFEKT experienced?Data and methodThis project includes an RCT study, suitable for evaluating the effect of an intervention, and a qualitative study answering how AFFEKT is experienced.

The outcomes (ECBI, SDQ, SNAP-IV, PSOC, PPI, GHQ-12, PSS, SPSQ and FACT-GP) measures children’s externalizing behaviors and health, and the parents’ sense of competence, strategies, mental health and quality of life.

ITT and PP data analyses will be used, and include between group analyses (pre-, post intervention) to evaluate the effect of the intervention, within group analyses (including data from baseline, 6 and 12 months) to evaluate the effect over time, and Growth Curve Models to analyze the variability between individuals in their changes over time.

Correlation- and regression analyses will evaluate the procedure measurements (e.g., PSOC and PPI) meaning for the outcomes (ECBI, SDQ, SNAP-IV).

The qualitative study will include semi-structured interviews, analyzed through thematic analysis.Project realizationAt four primary health care clinics with ”Ungas psykiska hälsa”, 150 participants will be recruited. The intervention group will receive psychoeducation and the group intervention AFFEKT.

The control group will receive psychoeducation, then wait 6 weeks before they get the intervention. Data will be collected before, directly after, 6 and 12 months after AFFEKT. The control group will also be followed up when they start AFFEKT.

The qualitative study includes 30 participants, interviewed 3 weeks after AFFEKT.Costs: Ethical application, data collection and analyses, travels and salary for the researchers.RelevanceChildren with externalizing issues are common, however the parent programs are often time-consuming.

Within primary care, families in need of interventions can be identified early on, to prevent future unhealth and costs for society.

The project will increase the knowledge about the efficacy of AFFEKT and how the program is experienced, of relevance for the implementation of the intervention and other parental programs.