Sparkle 2 difficulties trial#

Co-designed with parents and based on decades of parenting research, Parent Positive consists of three elements: (i) Parenting Boosters: where advice, delivered in the form of narrated animations, videos, graphics and text is provided to help parents with eight common parenting challenges (ii) Parenting Exchange: a facilitated parent-to-parent communication and peer support platform and (iii) Parent Resources: giving access to carefully selected high-quality, evidence-based online parenting resources. Parent Positive: is a digital public health intervention that can be delivered rapidly at scale to support parents in managing their children's behaviour to reduce conduct problems and levels of family conflict, which were exacerbated during the first lockdown, and which may increase further in future months as families need to cope with continuous uncertainty and further disruption to their daily lives. Those who consent to SPARKLE will be randomised 1:1 to either Parent Positive or Follow-up As Usual (FAU).Ĭo-SPACE (a UK-wide longitudinal cohort study) parents aged ≥18 who have children aged 4-10 years will be eligible for SPARKLE.

Sparkle 2 difficulties trial#

SPARKLE is a two-arm superiority parallel group randomised controlled trial embedded in an existing large UK-wide self-selected community cohort - Co-SPACE. Exploratory analyses will examine whether other baseline characteristics or lockdown circumstances moderate the effects of Parent Positive. We will also test whether the effects are moderated by pre-existing levels of child conduct problems and usage of Parent Positive. The efficacy on child and parent outcomes and cost-effectiveness of Parent Positive will be examined. In SPARKLE, we will examine whether providing Co-SPACE families with a smartphone application delivering information and parenting support, Parent Positive, can reverse the negative effects of the pandemic on children and parents.

Three-quarters of parents in Co-SPACE also reported wanting extra support. A UK-wide cohort study tracking changes in families' mental health since early lockdown (Co-SPACE) found a significant rise in primary school-aged children's behaviour problems and associated family-related stress.

The COVID-19 related lockdowns and distancing measures have presented families with unprecedented challenges.