Research team:

Professor Matthew Sanders (Director, Parenting and Family Support Centre), Carol Markie-Dadds (Deputy-Director PFSC, State Triple P Coordinator), Karen Turner (Program Development Coordinator), Dr Margaret Brechman-Toussaint (Triple P Clinic Coordinator), Majella Murphy-Brennan (National Training Coordinator)

Funding:

1999?2000 Queensland Health ($1.25 million) 2000 Queensland Health ($28,296) 2000?2002 Queensland Health ($551,983)

Email/Web link:

n matts@psy.uq.edu.au machelle@psy.uq.edu.au www.pfsc.uq.edu.au

Faculty of Social & Behavioural Sciences

Forget the "Three Rs" ? it is a Triple P which is vastly improving the health and well-being of children and parents in Australia and throughout the world.

The award-winning Triple P (Positive Parenting Program) is a multi-level family intervention strategy promoting the well-being of children and parents. It is designed as a prevention strategy for children "at risk" of developing behavioural disturbances.

It began life as the PhD thesis of Professor Matthew Sanders 24 years ago and continued with his research after joining UQ in 1979.

The first Triple P intervention was run in 1993 and has grown from one researcher (Professor Sanders) in a small office on campus to an entire Triple P Clinic in the Parenting and Family Support Centre (PFSC) of the School of Psychology staffed by more than 30 people and feeding the honours, masters and PhD programs of around 10 students each year.

Professor Sanders conservatively estimates more than 100,000 families worldwide have now participated in a Triple P intervention.

It is now being used in every state and territory of Australia as well as in the United Kingdom, United States, New Zealand, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore, Fiji and Switzerland. A system of training licenses has been negotiated with several state governments within Australia and with agencies internationally.

Described by one leading international psychologist as representing world standard of best practice in the family intervention area, Professor Sanders said the major aspect which differentiated Triple P from other programs was that it was entirely evidence-based and solidly rooted in ongoing scientific research.

"It is gratifying to see an evidence-based program get out there in the community beyond the journals and books in the library. Triple P has made the transition from a clinical study to providing practical solutions beneficial to the community," Professor Sanders said.

Himself a father of two grown-up children (both now students at UQ), Professor Sanders said the program was developed to find a solution to the behavioural and emotional problems which affect one in five Australian children.

"Previous studies indicate that family risk factors such as poor parenting, family conflict and marriage breakdown strongly influence children's development," he said.

"Large numbers of children are being exposed to these sorts of family risk factors. Approximately 35-40 percent of children experience the breakdown of their family through parental separation or divorce. Up to 50,000 Australian children per year are victims of child abuse, mostly at the hands of their parents, and around 17 percent of Australian children develop significant mental health problems.

"Families are pivotal to solving these problems. Children need safe, nurturing and engaging environments with interesting things to do as well as limits and boundaries informing them of acceptable forms of behaviour

"Parents need to feel validated, acknowledged and most of all supported in their role. Parenting needs to be de-stigmatised, de-mystified and normative. They need good-quality solutions and practical advice on issues such as how to get a child to go to bed without a fight.

"Adults also need to take care of themselves and to take a break from parenting every now and again."

Professor Sanders said other influences on children such as their peer groups and the media did not alter the fact that the fundamental plank in their development was growing up in a stable, low-conflict and predictable family environment.

He said central to Triple P's success was that it could be delivered at five different levels or intensities ranging from a series of parenting videos to individual programs for children at risk. It was also flexible, able to be accessed in different modalities including individual consultation, group therapy, self-direction or over the telephone (especially helpful for families in rural and remote areas).

"An important aspect of Triple P is that as we go along, new areas develop as the focus for research and new programs spring from those. For example, at the moment we are developing a range of culturally appropriate adaptations of the program for different ethnic groups, an Indigenous version and programs specifically for obese children, children with disabilities and children with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD)," he said.

According to Professor Sanders, more than 9500 professionals worldwide have now participated in the Triple P Professional Training Program.

In 2000, the centre continued a major contract with Queensland Health to train State child health staff to deliver Triple P.

The added commitment saw the centre conduct 226 days of training involving 1484 professionals during the year.

In 2000, the Triple P Clinic provided clinical service to 111 families with young children ranging in age from 10 months to 13 years.

In addition to this service, approximately 59,000 families received Triple P interventions across Queensland through the Queensland Health Triple P initiative. This initiative involves the training in and subsequent delivery of Triple P.

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