All Children in Focus 0-2 years (ABC 0-2): A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to do a pilot evaluation of “All Children in Focus 0–2 years” (in Swedish: ABC 0–2), which is a Swedish 4-session universal health-promoting parenting program aimed at parents with children 0–2 years, using a randomized control trial design. It was 324 parents who were randomized into the study. After a few early dropouts, the intervention group contained 150 persons and the control group 153 persons on a waiting list. The final data set analyzed consisted of 125 parents in the intervention group, and 141 in the control group. The intervention- and control group were systematically compared as regards to pre- and post-tests of parent’s self-reported self-efficacy, emotional regulation, stress and depressive symptoms as well as co-parenting and support controlling for demographic differences. Descriptive-, cluster- and ANCOVA analysis were used. As one could expect in a universal preventive intervention the effects are mainly in the small range but still promising and encourage further exploration and examining of ABC 0–2 on a larger scale.