Effects of the incredible years parenting program on children’s interpersonal conflict: An integrative data analysis

Elise Sellars; Lucy Bowes; Bonamy R. Oliver; Frances Gardner; Ulf Axberg; Vashti Berry; Maria João Seabra-Santos; Judy Hutchings; Sinéad McGilloway; Ankie T. A. Menting; Geertjan Overbeek; Stephen Scott; Patty Leijten

doi:10.1037/fam0001236

Effects of the incredible years parenting program on children’s interpersonal conflict: An integrative data analysis

Elise Sellars, Lucy Bowes, Bonamy R. Oliver, Frances Gardner, Ulf Axberg, Vashti Berry, Maria João Seabra-Santos, Judy Hutchings, Sinéad McGilloway, Ankie T. A. Menting, Geertjan Overbeek, Stephen Scott, Patty Leijten

Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Behavioral parenting programs, such as Incredible Years (IY), reduce conduct problems in children. However, conduct problems encompass many different behaviors, and little is known about the effects of parenting programs on specific aspects of children’s conduct problems, such as children’s relationships with others. The aim of this study was to examine, for the first time, the effects of the IY parenting program on children’s levels of conflict with their parents, siblings, and peers. We used individual participant-level data pooled across 12 randomized trials in Europe, comprising a total of 1,409 families: child aged 1–11 years (M = 5.53 years, SD = 1.56) and 61% male, 60% low-income families, and 30% from an ethnic minority. Multilevel models were used to explore the effects of IY on children’s conflict with parents, siblings, and peers. The IY program reduced children’s conflict with their parents (β = −.21), but there were no main effects of the program on conflict with siblings or peers. Moderation analyses showed that IY reduced conflict in sibling relationships for the 22% of families with the most severe sibling conflict at baseline. This suggests that high-quality behavioral parenting programs, such as IY, can effectively reduce children’s conflict within the home (i.e., with parents and siblings), especially when initial levels of sibling conflict are high, but do not have broader benefits on children’s interpersonal conflict outside of the home (i.e., with peers).

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	847-857
Journal	Journal of Family Psychology
Volume	38
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0001236
Publication status	Published - Sept 2024

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Effects of the Incredible Years_SELLARS_Publishedonline6June2024_GOLD_VoR (CC BY)Final published version, 528 KBLicence: CC BY

https://doi.apa.org/doi/10.1037/fam0001236

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Sellars, E., Bowes, L., Oliver, B. R., Gardner, F., Axberg, U., Berry, V., Seabra-Santos, M. J., Hutchings, J., McGilloway, S., Menting, A. T. A., Overbeek, G., Scott, S., & Leijten, P. (2024). Effects of the incredible years parenting program on children’s interpersonal conflict: An integrative data analysis. Journal of Family Psychology, 38(6), 847-857. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0001236

@article{cfeb1f842a89480ba29da236974f83cb,

title = "Effects of the incredible years parenting program on children{\textquoteright}s interpersonal conflict: An integrative data analysis",

abstract = "Behavioral parenting programs, such as Incredible Years (IY), reduce conduct problems in children. However, conduct problems encompass many different behaviors, and little is known about the effects of parenting programs on specific aspects of children{\textquoteright}s conduct problems, such as children{\textquoteright}s relationships with others. The aim of this study was to examine, for the first time, the effects of the IY parenting program on children{\textquoteright}s levels of conflict with their parents, siblings, and peers. We used individual participant-level data pooled across 12 randomized trials in Europe, comprising a total of 1,409 families: child aged 1–11 years (M = 5.53 years, SD = 1.56) and 61% male, 60% low-income families, and 30% from an ethnic minority. Multilevel models were used to explore the effects of IY on children{\textquoteright}s conflict with parents, siblings, and peers. The IY program reduced children{\textquoteright}s conflict with their parents (β = −.21), but there were no main effects of the program on conflict with siblings or peers. Moderation analyses showed that IY reduced conflict in sibling relationships for the 22% of families with the most severe sibling conflict at baseline. This suggests that high-quality behavioral parenting programs, such as IY, can effectively reduce children{\textquoteright}s conflict within the home (i.e., with parents and siblings), especially when initial levels of sibling conflict are high, but do not have broader benefits on children{\textquoteright}s interpersonal conflict outside of the home (i.e., with peers).",

author = "Elise Sellars and Lucy Bowes and Oliver, {Bonamy R.} and Frances Gardner and Ulf Axberg and Vashti Berry and Seabra-Santos, {Maria Jo{\~a}o} and Judy Hutchings and Sin{\'e}ad McGilloway and Menting, {Ankie T. A.} and Geertjan Overbeek and Stephen Scott and Patty Leijten",

year = "2024",

month = sep,

doi = "10.1037/fam0001236",

language = "English",

volume = "38",

pages = "847--857",

journal = "Journal of Family Psychology",

issn = "0893-3200",

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Sellars, E, Bowes, L , Oliver, BR, Gardner, F, Axberg, U, Berry, V, Seabra-Santos, MJ, Hutchings, J, McGilloway, S, Menting, ATA, Overbeek, G, Scott, S & Leijten, P 2024, 'Effects of the incredible years parenting program on children’s interpersonal conflict: An integrative data analysis', Journal of Family Psychology, vol. 38, no. 6, pp. 847-857. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0001236

TY - JOUR

T1 - Effects of the incredible years parenting program on children’s interpersonal conflict

T2 - An integrative data analysis

AU - Sellars, Elise

AU - Bowes, Lucy

AU - Oliver, Bonamy R.

AU - Gardner, Frances

AU - Axberg, Ulf

AU - Berry, Vashti

AU - Seabra-Santos, Maria João

AU - Hutchings, Judy

AU - McGilloway, Sinéad

AU - Menting, Ankie T. A.

AU - Overbeek, Geertjan

AU - Scott, Stephen

AU - Leijten, Patty

PY - 2024/9

Y1 - 2024/9

N2 - Behavioral parenting programs, such as Incredible Years (IY), reduce conduct problems in children. However, conduct problems encompass many different behaviors, and little is known about the effects of parenting programs on specific aspects of children’s conduct problems, such as children’s relationships with others. The aim of this study was to examine, for the first time, the effects of the IY parenting program on children’s levels of conflict with their parents, siblings, and peers. We used individual participant-level data pooled across 12 randomized trials in Europe, comprising a total of 1,409 families: child aged 1–11 years (M = 5.53 years, SD = 1.56) and 61% male, 60% low-income families, and 30% from an ethnic minority. Multilevel models were used to explore the effects of IY on children’s conflict with parents, siblings, and peers. The IY program reduced children’s conflict with their parents (β = −.21), but there were no main effects of the program on conflict with siblings or peers. Moderation analyses showed that IY reduced conflict in sibling relationships for the 22% of families with the most severe sibling conflict at baseline. This suggests that high-quality behavioral parenting programs, such as IY, can effectively reduce children’s conflict within the home (i.e., with parents and siblings), especially when initial levels of sibling conflict are high, but do not have broader benefits on children’s interpersonal conflict outside of the home (i.e., with peers).

AB - Behavioral parenting programs, such as Incredible Years (IY), reduce conduct problems in children. However, conduct problems encompass many different behaviors, and little is known about the effects of parenting programs on specific aspects of children’s conduct problems, such as children’s relationships with others. The aim of this study was to examine, for the first time, the effects of the IY parenting program on children’s levels of conflict with their parents, siblings, and peers. We used individual participant-level data pooled across 12 randomized trials in Europe, comprising a total of 1,409 families: child aged 1–11 years (M = 5.53 years, SD = 1.56) and 61% male, 60% low-income families, and 30% from an ethnic minority. Multilevel models were used to explore the effects of IY on children’s conflict with parents, siblings, and peers. The IY program reduced children’s conflict with their parents (β = −.21), but there were no main effects of the program on conflict with siblings or peers. Moderation analyses showed that IY reduced conflict in sibling relationships for the 22% of families with the most severe sibling conflict at baseline. This suggests that high-quality behavioral parenting programs, such as IY, can effectively reduce children’s conflict within the home (i.e., with parents and siblings), especially when initial levels of sibling conflict are high, but do not have broader benefits on children’s interpersonal conflict outside of the home (i.e., with peers).

U2 - 10.1037/fam0001236

DO - 10.1037/fam0001236

M3 - Article

SN - 0893-3200

VL - 38

SP - 847

EP - 857

JO - Journal of Family Psychology

JF - Journal of Family Psychology

IS - 6

ER -

Effects of the incredible years parenting program on children’s interpersonal conflict: An integrative data analysis

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