Which parts of parenting programmes actually carry the effect
This is the most useful study in the field for a course like this, because it asks which ingredients do the work rather than which programme has the best name. The result is not the one most parents expect, and the authors state their own limits, which we print beside it.
What the research says
Leijten P, Gardner F, Melendez-Torres GJ, van Aar J, Hutchings J, Schulz S, Knerr W, Overbeek G (2019). Meta-analyses: key parenting program components for disruptive child behavior. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 58(2), 180 to 190 doi
Across 154 trials, parenting programmes reduced disruptive child behaviour by a moderate amount, d 0.47 with a confidence interval from 0.40 to 0.55. The interesting part is which components went with stronger effects. Positive reinforcement did, 0.28, and praise specifically did, 0.22, and natural or logical consequences did, 0.21. Time out was a trend rather than a clear result, 0.14. And three things parents expect to be the answer showed no significant association: being taught about child development, being taught problem solving, and being taught to manage their own emotions. The authors are clear that these are associations between what a programme contained and how well it worked, not experiments, that causation cannot be inferred, that most outcomes were parent reported, and that the analysis was much better powered for common components than for rare ones.