Several interventions have been developed to support families living with parental mental illness (PMI). Recent evidence suggests that programmes with whole-family components may have greater positive effects for families, thereby also reducing costs to health and social care systems. This review aimed to identify whole-family interventions, their common characteristics, effectiveness and acceptability. A systematic review was conducted according to PRISMA 2020 guidelines. A literature search was conducted in ASSIA, CINAHL, Embase, Medline, and PsycINFO in January 2021 and updated in August 2022. We double screened 3914 abstracts and 212 papers according to pre-set inclusion and exclusion criteria. The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool was used for quality assessment. Quantitative and qualitative data were extracted and synthesised. Randomised-control trial data on child and parent mental health outcomes were analysed separately in random-effects meta-analyses. The protocol, extracted data, and meta-data are accessible via the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/9uxgp/). Data from 66 reports—based on 41 independent studies and referring to 30 different interventions—were included. Findings indicated small intervention effects for all outcomes including children’s and parents’ mental health (dc = −0.017, −027; dp = −0.14, −0.16) and family outcomes. Qualitative evidence suggested that most families experienced whole-family interventions as positive, highlighting specific components as helpful, including whole-family components, speaking about mental illness, and the benefits of group settings. Our findings highlight the lack of high-quality studies. The present review fills an important gap in the literature by summarising the evidence for whole-family interventions. There is a lack of robust evidence coupled with a great need in families affected by PMI which could be addressed by whole-family interventions. We recommend the involvement of families in the further development of these interventions and their evaluation.
MULTIFILE
Abstract Although parental involvement is often a priority on the quality agenda of schools for primary and secondary education, it is still not usual to involve parents as an educational partner in the actual learning process of their child. Rather than adopting an open approach, teachers tend to tell parents what they should do or keep them at a safe distance. At the same time, parents are increasingly becoming better informed, more critical and thus are more strongly positioned towards school. They address teachers more directly in case of problems or disappointing results of their child. Clearly, this might lead to a negative impact on the mutual relationship especially when parents’ emotional involvement conflicts with a professional and detached attitude of teachers. Based on the results of several studies that provide ample evidence that parental involvement in the learning process can improve learning outcomes, it is argued that there is much to be gained in forming educational partnerships between parents and schools. Different dimensions of active parenting are discussed, as well as prerequisites for successful implementation
The Challenge Me intervention aimed to indirectly involve parents in a school-based intervention, by challenging primary school children to perform physical activity (PA) and nutrition-related activities with their parents. The aim of this study is to gain insight in whether this was a feasible strategy to engage children and parents, especially those of vulnerable populations. An exploratory cross-sectional study design was applied. Four primary schools implemented the intervention. Data consisted of challenges completed (intervention posters) and child and family characteristics (questionnaires and anthropometric measurements). Associations between challenges performed and child and family characteristics were assessed using linear regression analysis. Of the 226 study participants, 100% performed at least one challenge, and 93% performed at least one challenge involving parents. Children who performed more PA challenges were often younger, a sports club member, lived in higher socioeconomic status neighbourhoods, of Western ethnicity and from larger families. Regarding nutrition challenges involving parents, younger children performed more challenges. There was no difference in intervention engagement regarding gender, weight status, PA preference, healthy nutrition preference, or the Family PA and Family Nutrition Climate. Challenge Me has potential in involving parents in a school-based intervention. However, certain characteristics were associated with higher involvement
Ouderbetrokkenheid, samenwerking tussen ouders en school, basisonderwijs, parental involvement, cooperation, primary schoolsOuderbetrokkenheid staat hoog op de agenda van de basisscholen, omdat het van cruciaal belang is voor school- en studiesucces en de persoonlijke ontwikkeling van kinderen.Bij ouderbetrokkenheid in het onderwijs gaat het er om dat leerkrachten en ouders (h)erkennen dat zij een gemeenschappelijk belang hebben: dat hun kind zich gezien zijn mogelijkheden en talenten optimaal ontwikkelt op school en thuis. De verantwoordelijkheid voor het creëren en stimuleren van een vruchtbare samenwerking ligt in eerste instantie bij de leerkrachten. Maar leerkrachten vinden het vaak moeilijk hoe zij daadwerkelijk met ouders moeten samenwerken en hoe zij adequaat kunnen inspelen op de verschillende ouders. Vnaf januari 2015 zal er twee jaar lang op drie basisscholen in het Noorden gewerkt worden aan ouderbetrokkenheid. Het project zal worden gefinancierd door SIA RAAK. Het doel van het project is om kennis te verzamelen in de praktijk over de competenties die nodig zijn om met ouders samen te kunnen werken.
Bullying at school is an emotionally charged topic that significantly tests the relationship between parents and teachers. It is a sensitive issue as it directly relates to the child's upbringing at home. Furthermore, parents and teachers have differing perspectives on the child, and the strategies they adopt to curb bullying are based on different perspectives and spheres of influence. In recent years, a variety of measures have been implemented in order to combat bullying at primary schools. Many different anti-bullying programmes have been developed for schools and a wide range of methods, training courses and tools are available to help teachers work together with parents in order to optimise their child's educational development. However, all of these anti-bullying methods lack concrete advice and tools to help teachers work together with parents whose children are personally involved in an incidence of bullying, despite experts across the board agreeing that cooperation between parents and teachers is of vital importance.The goal of this project is to develop an effective strategy to facilitate cooperation between parents and teachers that can be employed in the event of bullying as a supplement to existing anti-bullying programmes. This consortium's ambition is to boost the social safety of children in primary education by applying expertise in the field of bullying and parental involvement, and by combining past experiences.
