The Earlier the Better? Individual participant data and traditional meta-analysis of age effects of parenting interventions

Frances Gardner; Patty Leijten; G.J. Melendez-Torres; Sabine Landau; Victoria Harris; Joanna Mann; Jenny Beecham; Judy Hutchings; Stephen Scott

doi:10.1111/cdev.13138

The Earlier the Better? Individual participant data and traditional meta-analysis of age effects of parenting interventions

Frances Gardner, Patty Leijten, G.J. Melendez-Torres , Sabine Landau, Victoria Harris, Joanna Mann, Jenny Beecham, Judy Hutchings, Stephen Scott

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Abstract

Strong arguments have been made for early intervention for child problems, stating that early is more effective than later, as the brain is more malleable, and costs are lower. However, there is scant evidence from trials to support this hypothesis, which we therefore tested in two well-powered, state-of-the-art meta-analyses with complementary strengths: (a) Individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis of European trials of Incredible Years parenting intervention (k = 13, n = 1696; age = 2–11); (b) Larger, trial-level robust variance estimation meta-analysis of a wider range of parenting programs (k = 156, n = 13,378, M _age = 2–10) for reducing disruptive behavior. Both analyses found no evidence that intervention earlier in childhood was more effective; programs targeted at a narrower age range were no more effective than general ones.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	7-19
Number of pages	13
Journal	Child Development
Volume	90
Issue number	1
Early online date	14 Sept 2018
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13138
Publication status	Published - 11 Jan 2019

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10.1111/cdev.13138

The Earlier the Better_GARDNER_Accepted20February2018_GREEN AAMAccepted author manuscript, 511 KB

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abstract = "Strong arguments have been made for early intervention for child problems, stating that early is more effective than later, as the brain is more malleable, and costs are lower. However, there is scant evidence from trials to support this hypothesis, which we therefore tested in two well-powered, state-of-the-art meta-analyses with complementary strengths: (a) Individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis of European trials of Incredible Years parenting intervention (k = 13, n = 1696; age = 2–11); (b) Larger, trial-level robust variance estimation meta-analysis of a wider range of parenting programs (k = 156, n = 13,378, M age = 2–10) for reducing disruptive behavior. Both analyses found no evidence that intervention earlier in childhood was more effective; programs targeted at a narrower age range were no more effective than general ones. ",

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AU - Gardner, Frances

AU - Leijten, Patty

AU - Melendez-Torres , G.J.

AU - Landau, Sabine

AU - Harris, Victoria

AU - Mann, Joanna

AU - Beecham, Jenny

AU - Hutchings, Judy

AU - Scott, Stephen

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The Earlier the Better? Individual participant data and traditional meta-analysis of age effects of parenting interventions

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