Dissemination of an evidence-based intervention to parents of children with behavioral problems in a developing country

This project describes the dissemination of an evidence-based parenting skills intervention by training social and health workers with little or no mental health background so that they themselves train mothers of children with behavioral problems in impoverished communities in a developing country. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire was completed by mothers to screen for children with behavioral problems and was repeated at the end of the intervention. Pre- and post-tests of knowledge and parenting attitudes were administered to mothers. Mental health workers trained social and health workers in social development centers and dispensaries. Each social and health worker trained mothers of children with behavioral problems under supervision utilizing an Arabic adaptation of the treatment manual for externalizing disorders “Helping Challenging Children” developed by the Integrated Services Taskforce of the World Psychiatric Association Child Mental Health Presidential Programme. A total of 20 workers and 87 mothers participated in the training. The proportion of children who obtained an SDQ total difficulties score in the abnormal range decreased from 54.4 to 19.7% after the training. Whereas 40.2% of mothers used severe corporal punishment with their children before the intervention, this decreased to 6.1% post-intervention. Three-fourths of mothers related that the program helped them develop new parenting skills. This pilot project demonstrated the feasibility of dissemination of a manual-based intervention and training of workers who have little background in mental health to offer effective services to families in impoverished communities who otherwise would have not received them. Successful replication in other developing countries would pave the way to incorporating such programs in national policies given their potential sustainability and cost-effectiveness.