Many parents recognize that their behavior impacts that of their toddler and strive to learn effective parenting skills with resources such as Discipline the Brazelton Way.  It would seem logical that parent training on how to prevent early childhood behavior problems would impact toddler behavior. A recent study conducted by the Centre for Community Child Health (CCCH) in Australia however, concludes that the impact of a universal parenting program designed to prevent early childhood behavior problems is uncertain.  Science Daily summarized the key points in the study.

Up to 20 percent of children are affected by behavior problems such as aggression and defiance. These problems have major societal, personal, and economic ramifications and, if untreated, up to half of the problems that affect preschool children later develop into mental health problems. Universal programs that offer assistance to all families in treating these problems could address the problems, but, according to the CCCH study, their effectiveness is uncertain.

Using input from maternal and child health nurses, researchers from the CCCH and the Parenting Research Centre developed a program suitable for all parents for delivery by trained primary care health professionals. The goal of the program was to prevent child behavior problems and to improve parenting and maternal mental health. Authors of the study say this was the first study to evaluate a universal parenting program that involved families from all social backgrounds.

The study included over 700 mothers of 8 month-old infants who were randomly assigned to either the program, which consisted of three sessions at ages 8 to 15 months, or to a course of usual care from their local Maternal and Child Health Center. The study surveyed the mothers throughout the study and assessed their mental health when their children were 18 and 24 months.

At the 18 month survey, parenting scores and child behavior were similar between the groups. But, by age 24 months, parents in the program were found less likely to report abusive or harsh parenting as well as fewer unreasonable expectations of child development.

Contrary to the countless studies on the beneficial impact of parent education programs, in this study there was no improvement in either toddler behavior or maternal distress among the program group when toddlers were 24 months old. The researchers concluded that, based on these outcomes, there is insufficient support for a widespread program to prevent toddler behavior problems.