The Importance of Evidence-Based Parenting Intervention to the Prevention and Treatment of Child Maltreatment

Abstract

Preventing the maltreatment of children is as a major public health challenge. Maltreated children are at an elevated risk of many problematic outcomes and it is children’s parents who are often at the centre of the maltreatment. This chapter makes the case that improved parenting is the cornerstone of child maltreatment treatment and prevention and strengthening parenting and family relationships across the entire population is the approach most likely to reduce the unacceptably high rate of child maltreatment. We focus on the role of parenting programs in reducing the prevalence of child maltreatment by examining Pathways Triple P, a tailored intervention for parents at risk of harming their children. We document the steps required to achieve population-level reductions in rates of child maltreatment and discuss implications for policy makers, researchers, parents and their children.