The Incredible Years BASIC – Parent Training Program
Effectiveness

Promising

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Promising

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Where the program was applied
Country of application
Description

This is a psychoeducation program for parents with the aim of preventing behavioral problems and promoting social, emotional, and academic skills and competencies in their children.
The program has four versions:
1) Baby Program (9-12 sessions), which teaches caregivers how to ensure attachment between parents and babies, about language and social expression, and about the beginnings of the sense of self;
2) Young Children Program (12-13 sessions), which follows the same principles as the previous version;
3) Preschool Program (18-20 sessions), where parents focus on developmental milestones to encourage school readiness (pre-writing, pre-reading, learning discovery), emotional regulation, and social and friendship skills;
4) School Program (12-16 sessions), which focuses on developmental milestones to promote children’s independence, motivation for learning, and the development of family responsibility and empathy.

Impact evaluations

Impact evaluation studies have shown that the children who took part in the program had a statistically significant reduction in antisocial and aggressive behavior, depressive symptoms, externalizing and internalizing problems, and an improvement in prosocial behavior and close relationships with their parents [1] [2].

Bibliographic reference

[1] Webster-Stratton, C., Rinaldi, J., & Reid, J. M. (2011). Long-term outcomes of Incredible Years parenting program: Predictors of adolescent adjustment. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 16(1), 38-46

[2] Drugli, M. B., Larsson, B., Fossum, S., & Mørch, W. (2010). Five- to six-year outcome and its prediction for children with ODD/CD treated with parent training. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51(5), 559–566.