A gloomy picture: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials reveals disappointing effectiveness of programs aiming at preventing child maltreatment

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Marinus H. van IJzendoorn¹  Lenneke RA Alink¹  Marije Stoltenborgh¹  Saskia Euser¹  Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg¹ 

[1] Centre for Child and Family Studies, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9555, 2300 RB, Leiden, Netherlands;

关键词: Intervention;    Prevention;    Meta-analysis;    RCT;    Child maltreatment;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-015-2387-9

 received in 2015-03-20, accepted in 2015-10-06,  发布年份 2015

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundConsistent findings about the effectiveness of parent programs to prevent or reduce child maltreatment are lacking.MethodsIn the present meta-analysis we synthesized findings from 27 independent samples from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the effectiveness of 20 different intervention programs aimed at (i) preventing the occurrence of child maltreatment in the general population or with at-risk but non-maltreating families, or (ii) reducing the incidence of child maltreatment in maltreating families.ResultsA significant combined effect on maltreatment (d = 0.13; N = 4883) disappeared after the trim-and-fill approach that takes into account publication bias against smaller studies without significant outcomes. However, moderator analyses showed that larger effect sizes were found for more recent studies, studies with smaller samples, programs that provide parent training instead of only support, programs that target maltreating instead of at-risk families, and programs with a moderate length (6–12 months) or a moderate number of sessions (16–30).ConclusionsMore RCTs are needed to further unravel which factors are associated with program effectiveness. Because currently existing programs appeared to only reduce and not prevent child maltreatment, efforts in the field of preventive intervention should also focus on the development and testing of preventive programs for families at risk for child maltreatment.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Euser et al. 2015