Using Evidence-Based Parenting Programs to Advance CDC Efforts in Child Maltreatment Prevention. Research Brief
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recognize child maltreatment as a serious public health problem with extensive short- and long-term health effects. In addition to the immediate physical and emotional effects of maltreatment, children who have experienced abuse and neglect are at increased risk of adverse health effects and risky health behaviors in adulthood. Child maltreatment has been linked to higher rates of alcoholism, drug abuse, depression, smoking, multiple sexual partners, suicide, and chronic disease. To address child maltreatment, CDC emphasizes empirical research with direct implications for prevention. CDC is advancing and expanding child maltreatment prevention by evaluating and disseminating effective programs. CDC has launched several initiatives aimed at preventing child maltreatment through evidence-based parenting programs. This follows an extensive strategic planning process, development of CDC's Injury Research Agenda, and consultation with child maltreatment prevention experts. Programs and policies that encourage and promote positive parent-child interactions and improve parenting skills may provide parents and caregivers with the skills they need to better manage behavior before violence can occur. One prevention activity examined in this report is the behavioral parent training (BPT) approach to preventing maltreatment. BPT has been shown to be effective in changing parents' and children's behavior and has been increasingly used in empirically-based programs for child maltreatment prevention. Another method, the Positive Parenting Program (Triple P) is also described. Triple P has five primary levels that vary in intensity: Level One, information provision; Levels Two and Three, brief consultations for parents of children with typical behavioral problems; and Levels Four and Five, 10 or more sessions to address severe child behavioral problems.