Abstract
BackgroundChildren with an intellectual disability are at increased risk of psychosocial problems. This leads to serious restrictions in the daily functioning of the children and to parental stress. Stepping Stones Triple P aims to prevent severe behavioural, emotional and developmental problems in children with a (intellectual) disability by enhancing parenting knowledge and skills, and the self-confidence of parents. This paper aims to describe the design of a study of the effectiveness of parenting counselling using Stepping Stones Triple P compared to Care as Usual.Methods/DesignThe effects of Stepping Stones Triple P will be studied in a Randomised Controlled Trial. Parents of children aged 5-12 years with an IQ of 50-85 will be recruited from schools. Prior to randomisation, parents complete a screening questionnaire about their child's psychosocial problems and their parenting skills. Subsequently, parents of children with increased levels of psychosocial problems (score on Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire ≥ 14) will be invited to participate in the intervention study. After obtaining consent, parents will be randomised either to the experimental group (Stepping Stones Triple P) or to Care as Usual. The primary outcome is a change in the child's psychosocial problems according to parents and teachers. The secondary outcome is a change in parenting skills. Data will be collected before the start of the intervention, immediately after the intervention, and six months after.DiscussionThis paper presents an outline of the background and design of a randomised controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness of Stepping Stones Triple P, which aims to decrease psychosocial problems in children with a mild intellectual disability. Stepping Stones Triple P seems promising, but evidence on its effectiveness for this population is still lacking. This study provides evidence about the effects of this intervention in a community-based population of children with a mild intellectual disability.Trial registrationNetherlands Trial Register (NTR): NTR2624
Highlights
Children with an intellectual disability are at increased risk of psychosocial problems
This paper presents an outline of the background and design of a randomised controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness of Stepping Stones Triple P, which aims to decrease psychosocial problems in children with a mild intellectual disability
This paper describes the design of the evaluation of the effectiveness of parenting counselling according to Stones Triple P (SSTP) regarding the psychosocial problems of children with mild intellectual disability (ID) compared to a control group receiving Care as Usual (CAU)
Summary
Children with an intellectual disability are at increased risk of psychosocial problems. Stepping Stones Triple P aims to prevent severe behavioural, emotional and developmental problems in children with a (intellectual) disability by enhancing parenting knowledge and skills, and the self-confidence of parents. Psychosocial problems, such as problems with behaviour, emotions and relationships, occur frequently in children with an intellectual disability (ID). SSTP aims to prevent severe behavioural, emotional and developmental problems in children with a disability by enhancing the knowledge, skills and confidence of parents [9]. There is a study in Australia on children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders [12] The results of these studies demonstrate maintained significant improvements in child behaviour and parenting styles, and parents reported a high level of satisfaction with SSTP. There is no evidence with Randomised Controlled Trials (RCT) for SSTP among this broad target population of children with mild ID and their parents
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