Extended definitions

Definition: Parenting programmes

A parenting intervention is defined for the purposes of this Practice Guide as: 

“…structured set of activities or services with set eligibility requirements, aimed at improving how parents and caregivers approach and ‘do’ their role, specifically their parenting knowledge, attitudes, skills, behaviours and practices.” – based on World Health Organisation, 2022.

Parenting interventions focus on strengthening parents’ capacity to manage behaviour, model positive strategies, and support their own mental health. The ultimate goal of parenting support is to improve outcomes for children and enhance parental wellbeing and parenting practices. 

Most evidence-based parenting programmes draw on relationship-based and social learning approaches. Within children’s social care, parenting support also includes family work to prevent neglect or abuse, strengthen parent–child relationships, and promote positive engagement. 

Parenting components may be combined with other forms of support such as relationship skills, therapeutic interventions, family-based interventions, or child-focused programmes. 

The Practice Guide includes structured family support programmes where parenting is a key component, such as home visiting schemes that provide information and training on child health and development. Family therapeutic interventions are also in scope, where interventions treat the family as a whole unit, looking to work with wider family members. 

This guide does not cover interventions such as specialist mental health support for parents experiencing mental health problems, nor specialist support to parents on needs such as substance misuse. Parenting interventions should be part of a wider system of support nationally and locally to effectively address the multiple and complex needs that families can face. 

Definition: Parents experiencing adversity

We define parents experiencing adversity as synonymous with those who face multiple and complex needs. Our definition of the families in scope for the systematic reviews was broad. Studies included in our review met the following criteria in terms of the parents they included: 

1. Parents of a child or children with a mean age of up to 19 years  
2. Parents were either: 
   • known risk of maltreatment occurring within the families 
   • eligible for early help 
   • known to child social services 
   • These risk factors may apply to the individual, the family, or be interpersonal in nature.

With selective studies, parents experienced one or multiple risk factors listed below, which have been identified as being associated with an increased risk of child maltreatment: 

• Parental substance abuse 
• Parental incarceration 
• Parental mental health challenges
• Parental intellectual disability 
• Current or past experience of intimate partner violence 
• Parental childhood experience of maltreatment or other adverse childhood experiences 
• Children with severe child socio-emotional and conduct problems 
• Highly deprived socio-economic status 
• Teenage/adolescent parenthood 
• Gypsy, roma and traveller communities,  
• Having refugee, asylum-seeker, or undocumented migrant status. 

These interventions typically focus on providing advice, guidance and training to support parents’ capacity to address parenting behaviours, model healthy strategies, address behavioural challenges in both adults and children, and support parental mental and physical health. The ultimate goal of parenting support is to enhance child outcomes and parental wellbeing.  

Most evidence-based parenting programmes are grounded in relationship perspectives and social learning theory. Within the context of children’s social care, parenting support also encompasses family work aimed at stopping abusive and neglectful parenting behaviours, as well as strengthening parent–child relationships, and supporting parents to engage with their child or teenager in positive ways. The parenting component may be combined with other content (e.g., parent relationship or life skills), types of support, types of therapy (e.g., cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)), forms of family-based therapy (e.g., multisystemic therapies), or child/young person-focused interventions. 

For this Practice Guide, family support programmes with parenting as an aspect are included in scope, such as home visiting programmes in which parents are seen in their own home and provided with information, support and/or training regarding child health, development, and care. 

Although interventions with a flexible structure are included, completely unstructured interventions are not included, for instance home visits not offered in a structured format, or therapies that do not have a structured approach. Parenting interventions of all durations are included, including one-off sessions. 

This guide does not cover interventions such as specialist mental health support for parents experiencing mental health problems, nor specialist support to parents on needs such as substance misuse. Parenting interventions should be part of a wider system of support nationally and locally to effectively address the multiple and complex needs that families can face.