University of Manchester logo Over the years the rate of child abuse has been increasing significantly. Many children are being subjected to such abuse which is implemented on them by their parents or another elder. Such exposure may have adverse effect on the child’s adolescent and adult life. A recent study has come up with a novel way of avoiding such happenings. They have discovered that by enrolling parents in various good parenting programmes, the rate of such child abuse incidents could be decreased.

This five-year study was led by Dr. Ron Prinz from the University of South Carolina. They state that by providing all the families with Positive Parenting Programme or the Triple P, brought down the rates of child abuse, out-of-home placements and child abuse injury related hospitalizations; as compared to the families without Triple P availability. This is said to be the first large-scale study to reveal that by providing all the families, irrespective of their risk factor, easy access to Triple P could dramatically reduce the rate of child abuse.

Co-author, Matt Sanders, visiting professor at The University of Manchester, and also the founder of Triple P, says that, “We already know Triple P can alleviate parents’ stress and depression and help prevent and reduce child emotional and behavioral problems,” He continues, “But this research shows that by providing all parents – not just those at risk – with parenting support through evidence-based programs, we can have a major impact on child maltreatment. We can hold back the growth in child abuse, keep children out of foster care and in their own homes and see fewer injured children in hospitals.”

This U.S. study was conducted in about 18 countries in South Carolina. Parents of children ranging from various ages could gain their desired Triple P data through various means; like brief public seminars, mainstream media, schools, churches, etc. among others.

The study authors state that they expect to yield similar results in U.K. as well. They hope to have the same effect on U.K. parents as well, akin to U.S. parents accessing Triple P. This study was funded by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Their findings were published in the online edition of the Prevention Science journal.