A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Parenting C.A.R.E. Program: A Virtual Synchronously Delivered Intervention.

Abstract

This study examined the effectiveness of the Parenting CARE Program, a virtual, synchronously delivered parenting intervention aimed at improving child emotion regulation (ER) by enhancing parental ER and emotion socialization (ES) skills. In a pilot randomized controlled trial, 105 parents of children aged 8 to 13 were randomly assigned to the intervention group (n = 57) or control group (n = 48). Two-way mixed ANOVAs were used to evaluate changes in parental ES, parental ER, and child ER from T1 to T2. A significant interaction between time and group was found for overall parent emotion dismissing scores, showing a greater decrease in parents' dismissing responses to their child's emotions for the intervention group compared to the control group. The difference between intervention and control emotion dismissing scores was observed to be approaching significance at T2. No significant time x group interactions were observed for overall supportive ES behaviours, parent ER difficulties, or child ER difficulties, despite improvements observed over time for the intervention group across parent and child ER difficulties. Secondary analyses revealed significant reductions in punitive and overriding ES behaviours for the intervention group, compared to the control group. The intervention demonstrated feasibility, with 75% of participants completing at least four sessions, and high satisfaction rates were reported by participants. These findings suggest potential benefits of the intervention in improving parent ES, parent ER, and child ER, although further research is needed to explore long-term effects.