Parenting Through Adversity

What?

There is good evidence that parenting interventions can improve parenting practices in families where behaviours that challenge or conduct disorder are present.

Adversity such as poverty, stress, or trauma can increase the likelihood of harsh or inconsistent parenting, emotional reactivity, and poor communication.

Interventions that build parental confidence and teach effective behaviour management strategies can lead to meaningful and sustained improvements – both within six months and up to two years after participation.

Practice supervisors and practitioners should deliver interventions that help parents to:

• Set clear and predictable expectations by aligning perspectives on rules and consequences to reduce conflict and confusion
• Reinforce positive behaviours by recognising where actions are supportive to build confidence and strengthen family relationships
• Improve communication to reduce conflict, enhance understanding, and ensure children and young people feel heard and supported
• Regulate emotions through calm responses, de-escalation techniques, and collaborative problem-solving to create safer, more supportive family interactions.

How?

To improve outcomes for families experiencing challenging behaviours, practice supervisors and practitioners should:

• Train and support parents to apply evidence-based strategies consistently at home through coaching, modelling, and feedback
• Use structured tools and techniques – such as behaviour charts, positive reinforcement plans, and communication frameworks – to promote consistency and clarity within the family
• Incorporate role play, guided practice, and reflection within sessions to strengthen parents’ confidence and skill application
• Monitor progress regularly, providing reinforcement and encouragement as families adopt new approaches
• Where needed, coordinate with wider services (e.g. education, health, and where necessary, youth justice) to ensure families receive comprehensive, joined-up support.

What?

There is good evidence that parenting interventions can reduce parenting stress for parents of children aged 11 to 18.

Parenting stress often emerges when external pressures or challenging child behaviours exceed a parent’s capacity to cope. Without support, this can lead to inconsistent parenting, reduced sensitivity, and increased family conflict.

By reducing stress, parents are better able to engage positively with their children, foster supportive relationships, and create calmer, more predictable home environments – improving outcomes for both parents and children.

Effective interventions such as Multisystemic Therapy and Boys Town In-Home Family Services combine practical skill-building with stress-reduction strategies to strengthen family functioning and increase parental confidence.

Practice supervisors and practitioners should focus on supporting parents to:

• Recognise and manage stress using relaxation, problem-solving, and emotional regulation strategies
• Reflect on the impact that stress has on parenting decisions and work to develop more constructive responses
• Share experiences and normalise challenges to reduce isolation and stigma
• Strengthen coping and communication skills to enhance relationships and reduce conflict.

How?

To reduce parenting stress and strengthen family functioning, practice supervisors and practitioners should:

• Deliver evidence-based interventions that explicitly address both parenting skills and stress management, such as MST
• Create safe spaces during sessions for parents to share experiences and reflect on any challenges they are facing
• Model positive coping and communication strategies that parents can apply in everyday situations
• Incorporate structured exercises that promote emotional regulation, relaxation, and self-reflection
• For parents experiencing acute stress or mental health difficulties, provide a holistic package of support – combining parenting interventions with referrals to specialist mental health or community services where necessary
• Regularly monitor parental wellbeing and confidence throughout delivery to ensure progress is sustained and support remains responsive to need.

What?

There is good evidence that parenting interventions can reduce emotional difficulties—such as withdrawal, anxiety, and low mood—in children and young people.

These internalising behaviours can be  closely linked to later life challenges, including anti-social and disruptive behaviour. Without early support, internalising and externalising behaviours can reinforce one another, creating greater difficulties for families over time.

Parenting interventions that promote warmth, open communication, and consistency can help parents recognise early signs of withdrawal or distress and respond in ways that prevent escalation.

By setting clear expectations alongside reassurance, parents can help their children feel safe, valued, and understood—reducing both emotional and behavioural difficulties.

Practice supervisors and practitioners should support parents to:

• Recognise and respond early to signs of anxiety, low mood, or social withdrawal.
• Encourage open communication and emotional expression to strengthen trust and connection.
• Balance support with clear boundaries to promote security and confidence.
• Understand the link between emotional distress and externalised behaviours, tailoring support accordingly.

Effective interventions such as Connect strengthen both emotional engagement and behavioural management within families.

How?

To reduce negative emotional behaviours and the risk of escalation into anti-social behaviour, practice supervisors and practitioners should:

• Deliver evidence-based parenting programmes that address both emotional wellbeing and behaviour management, such as Connect
• Encourage parents to reflect on how emotional withdrawal, anxiety, or low mood may influence conflict or anti-social behaviour.
• Model sensitive yet firm communication and help parents practice constructive responses to both quiet distress and challenging behaviours.
• Support parents to build consistent routines and predictable structures that reduce anxiety and foster stability within the home.
• Embed interventions within a coordinated, multi-agency package of support—involving schools, youth services, and mental health providers—to ensure children and young people receive joined-up help that addresses both emotional and behavioural needs.

What?

There is good evidence that family therapy interventions can reduce challenging and anti-social behaviours in young people – both for those at risk of, and for those already displaying such behaviours.

Programmes that work with the whole family system help improve communication, strengthen relationships, and support consistent parenting approaches. These factors can reduce conflict, enhance engagement with education, and promote positive behavioural change.

Family therapy recognises that wider family dynamics shape behaviours and that sustainable improvement depends on strengthening those relationships.

Evidence shows that interventions that increase parental authority, build emotional connections, and reduce conflict can interrupt cycles of anti-social behaviour and improve long-term outcomes for young people.

Effective interventions include Multisystemic Therapy (MST) and Functional Family Therapy (FFT). MST and FFT can also be found on the YEF Toolkit. Both interventions provide structured frameworks for improving family functioning and behaviour.

Practice supervisors and practitioners should deliver interventions that:

• Engage the whole family, involving young people and parents together to practice new skills
• Improve communication and problem-solving, replacing confrontation with constructive dialogue
• Support consistent boundaries and expectations around routines, school attendance, and peer relationships
• Encourage reflection and emotional regulation, helping young people understand and manage their behaviours.

How?

To reduce challenging behaviours and strengthen family relationships, practice supervisors and practitioners should:

• Deliver evidence-based family therapy interventions such as MST and FFT, ensuring fidelity to the programme model
• Use role play, in-the-moment coaching, and guided reflection during sessions to embed new communication and problem-solving skills
• Coordinate across the multi-agency workforce, including with education, health, social care, and youth justice, where the young person has been involved in an offence or is being charged, to provide joined-up, family-centred support
• Monitor family progress collaboratively, reinforce positive change and adjust strategies as needed
• Support families to sustain improvements beyond the intervention by developing ongoing routines, communication patterns, and peer or community support that promote stability and resilience.

What?

There is good evidence that systemic family therapy interventions can improve overall family functioning and strengthen parent–child relationships.

These interventions help families build healthier communication, reduce conflict, and create more supportive and nurturing environments.

They are particularly valuable where ongoing tension, poor communication, or emotional distance exists within the home by helping parents and young people rebuild trust and connection.

Unlike parenting programmes that focus solely on parents, systemic family therapy involves all family members – recognising that attachment, communication, and behaviour are shaped by the wider family system.

Evidence shows that improving communication, attachment, and responsiveness within the family increases resilience and helps families adapt to adversities more effectively.

Effective interventions include Functional Family Therapy (FFT) and Brief Strategic Family Therapy (BSFT), which focus directly on strengthening family relationships and communication.

Practice supervisors and practitioners should focus on interventions that:

• Bring parents and young people together to practice new ways of interacting and communicating
• Use live coaching and role-playing to help parents model warmth and responsiveness while supporting young people in expressing their needs
• Replace conflict with constructive dialogue and collaborative problem-solving
• Balance structure and sensitivity, encouraging parents to combine clear authority with emotional support.

How?

To strengthen family relationships and improve family functioning, practice supervisors and practitioners should:

• Deliver evidence-based family therapy models, such as FFT or BSFT, ensuring fidelity to the programme
• Use interactive methods, such as live coaching, reflective feedback, and in-session practice to help families deliver new communication strategies
• Encourage parents and young people to set shared goals to promote a sense of collaboration and mutual respect
• Provide a supportive environment where family members can explore and repair patterns of conflict, misunderstanding, or emotional distance
• Monitor family progress and adapt the focus of sessions as relationships improve, helping families sustain positive communication and attachment beyond the intervention.

What?

There is good evidence that evidence-based parenting interventions can improve the mental health and wellbeing of parents whose children are involved with children’s social care.

Parents in these circumstances often face multiple stressors that can increase the risk of poor mental health.

Parenting interventions designed for these families help to build confidence, strengthen resilience, and embed practical skills to manage both emotional and behavioural challenges.

By combining parenting skill development with emotional and relational support, these programmes reduce stress, improve parental wellbeing, and promote more stable and nurturing family environments.

Evidence-based models such as Multisystemic Therapy for Child Abuse and Neglect (MST-CAN) have demonstrated positive impacts on both parenting practices and parental mental health.

Practice supervisors and practitioners should deliver interventions that:

• Equip parents with practical tools for creating consistent routines, using positive discipline, and communicating clearly
• Provide empathetic, validating support that reduces isolation, shame, and stigma for parents
• Actively build parental self-esteem by recognising progress and reinforcing success
• Model positive coping and stress-management strategies during sessions
• Adapt delivery to families’ circumstances through flexible scheduling and home-based sessions to support sustained engagement.

How?

To improve parental mental health among families supported by children’s social care, practice supervisors and practitioners should:

• Implement evidence-based interventions such as MST-CAN, ensuring fidelity to programme design while tailoring delivery to local context
• Combine practical parenting skill-building with emotional support that acknowledges parents’ lived experiences and challenges
• Create safe, trusting environments where parents can discuss difficulties
• Use reflective supervision to identify signs of parental distress or mental health needs and make timely referrals to specialist mental health services where necessary
• Coordinate with multi-agency partners – including health, housing, and community services – to ensure parents receive holistic, wraparound support
• Track both parenting outcomes and parental wellbeing to monitor progress and adapt support accordingly.