The Triple P – Positive Parenting Programme: the effectiveness of group Triple P and brief parent discussion group in school settings in Hong Kong

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of two intervention formats of the Positive Parenting Programme (Triple P) – Level 4 Group Triple P (TP) and brief parent discussion group (DI) with the waitlist control group (WL). Design/methodology/approach – Participants included 91 Chinese parents with preschool children in Hong Kong from eight preschools, who were randomised into the two intervention conditions (TP and DI) and a waitlist control group (WL). Parent participants completed measures on child behaviours and parenting stress before and after intervention. Findings – Results indicated that there was a significant decrease in post-intervention child behavioural problems in the TP group, with a medium effect size when compared to the WL group. There was a decrease in post-intervention child behaviour problems in the DI group, compared with the WL group. No significant difference was found in post-intervention child behaviour problems between the TP group and the DI group. Practical implications – The positive results in the present study support the extension of the implementation of Triple P interventions to the preschool setting in Hong Kong. The effectiveness of the brief parent discussion group in reducing parental report of child behaviour problems provides preliminary support for its potential as a universal preventive parenting intervention in the local context. Originality/value – The study was the first evaluation of the Level-4 Triple P programme in a local school context as well as the first evaluation of effectiveness of the brief parent discussion group in the local context at the time of the study.