The Transition to School Project: Results from the Classroom

Conduct problems in children are common, and are associated with significant costs to the family, schools, and society at large. Behavioural Family Intervention (BFI), which targets family interactions, is known to be one of the most effective interventions for the management of child behaviour problems. The school environment is an important aspect of a child’s life, and the degree to which parenting interventions impact on the children’s classroom behaviour has not been adequately assessed. The present research aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a parenting intervention, namely The Positive Parenting Program – Triple P, in reducing child behaviour problems in the classroom. Year One teachers at 25 state primary schools in Brisbane completed a standardised teacher report measure of child behaviour on all children in their classrooms (n=495 children in control schools, n=490 children at intervention schools). Compared to control schools, the levels of teacher reported conduct problems were significantly lower in the intervention schools. The results of this study provide evidence that a parent training program such as Triple P can be effective in reducing the impact of child behaviour problems in the classroom