The document outlines the components and effectiveness of the Incredible Years (IY) parenting programs, emphasizing the importance of modeling new parenting skills, addressing family issues, and providing accessibility for challenged families. It highlights the program's evidence-based success in various countries as a model for violence prevention and describes its implementation in Wales, which has faced significant economic challenges. Additionally, it discusses ongoing research, training initiatives, and collaborations aimed at improving parenting skills and outcomes for children at risk.

1. “The Incredible Years
Parent, programmes:
background and lessons from
Wales”
Professor Judy Hutchings
Centre for Evidence Based Early
Intervention, Bangor University
1

2. Essential components of effective parent
programmes
 Specific factors (the social learning theory that
underpins effective child management)
 Common factors (relationship and counselling
skills that respect parents goals and views and
seek to help them find solutions)
 Access issues for challenged families
addressed, transport, meals, creche, time to
build a relationship with them
2

3. Key specific components of effective parenting
interventions
- new parenting skills must be modelled and rehearsed
- (non-violent) sanctions for negative behaviour and
relationship building, praise and rewards
-
- home-based practice or ‘homework’
- parenting programmes should emphasise principles rather
than prescribe techniques
- must address difficulties in adult relationships or other
family problems
- interventions work best when delivered early
33

4. Teacher
The Incredible Years
Programme Programmes
6 full day
sessions held
monthly
Child Dinosaur
Classroom
Child Dinosaur Programme:3
treatment year
Programme: 6 curriculum, 2
children, 18 - 22 sessions per
weekly sessions week, 30 weeks
Fully revised
Fully revised ADVANCED
Infant (eight School Fully revised Pre- School Aged Programme: 9
sessions) 0 - 12 Readiness School BASIC BASIC Parent sessions helping
months toddler Programme: Parent Programme: adults
1 - 3 year olds 4 pre-school Programme 14-18
10 - 12 sessions, communicate &
(13 sessions) sessions weekly sessions,
2 – 4 years 6 - 12 years*** problem solve
programmes 3 – 6 years
***The School aged programme also has an additional four session unit on helping
your child to do their best in school
4

5. IY Parent Child and Teacher programmes
• Over thirty years of research with high standards
of evidence and long term follow-up
• Effective as clinical and preventive programmes
• Identified in every systematic review and by the
US Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention as a model “Blueprint” programme for
violence prevention.
•
• Parenting programme is one of only two
programmes identified by NICE as effective for the
treatment of conduct disorder
• Replication of parent programme in
Canada, Wales, England, Norway, Portugal, Ireland
, teacher programme in Jamaica and Wales
• Parent programme is equally effective with
caucasian, african, asian and spanish americans
• Research underway in
Seattle, Wales, England, Ireland, Norway, Denmark
, Portugal, Jamaica, etc.,

6. What does it mean to be a Blueprint for
Violence Prevention
• US OJJDP funded the Center for Violence
Prevention, University of Colorado, to identify
programmes with real evidence for prevention or
reduction of violence, they needed:
• RCT evidence
• Independent replication
• Long term follow-up
• Replication in service settings
• Tools for fidelity
• Only 11 of the 900 reviewed were identified as
“Blueprints for Violence Prevention”, 6
including IY
6
6

7. IY tools for effective replication:
• Books and manuals for leaders/therapists
• Standardised training for leaders/therapists
• Supervision/consultation for therapists
• Materials for parents/participants
• An effective accreditation/fidelity assessment
process (to ensure that people are receiving
the evidence based programme in the
evidence based way)
• All essential components from parenting
research 7

8. Development of the IY
programmes in the UK
 Mainly parent programme established
 Researched in Oxford (targeted) London
(CAMHS and universal),Wales and
Birmingham (targeted early intervention)
 Fourteen mentors approved to deliver local
training across UK, three trainers
 Westminster Government funded training
activity through the Pathfinder Early
Intervention and Family Intervention Projects
8

9. Wales
 Population 3 million, majority in Sth Wales
 Economically poor, loss of coal and steel
industries in Welsh Valley communities in
South Wales
 200,000 children live in poverty* (1/3rd of all
children aged 0 - 16)
 Significantly lower incomes than England or
Scotland
 Highest unemployment levels among UK
countries and rising
*poverty defined as income after housing costs below 60% of the median
income’ for families. This equates to £78/child and £86/adult per week

10. Child and Family policy
developments in Wales
 IY parent programme used since 1999
 Early Welsh Sure Start (2000) like England
funded without direction re: programmes
 2005 Welsh Government (WG) Parenting
Action Plan for Wales and based on results
from my Sure Start RCT, WG approved
funding for IY parent leader training for all 22
Authorities across Wales
 WG funded leader training since 2006 now in
the seventh year of funding training, materials
etc. for IY parenting work across Wales
10

11. How we developed the strategy
 Annual conferences in North and South
Wales with research and practice focus
 Publications, annual newsletters and
academic articles
 Wales wide surveys of leaders and
programme dissemination
 Responses to Welsh Government policy
papers on health, education, poverty, etc
 Research programme extended and
Research Centre created

12.  Annual reports to Welsh Government
 Managers workshops developed on
evaluation and fidelity
 Evidence to WG Children and Young
People’s Committee reviewing the
Parenting Action Plan
 Contribution to NICE, Westminster
Government strategy, referenced twice
in Hansard
 International recognition of the work in
Wales in Ireland, Portugal, Australia,
Poland, Denmark, Czech Republic etc.

13. Things we did
 The leader surveys to identify problems
 Developed workshops for managers on
evaluation and fidelity
 Obtained further funding to evaluate
other IY programmes
 Developed a 25 year strategy
 Supported infrastructure development -
mentor support in three Authorities,
peer coaches in six Authorities

14. Welsh Government
developments
 Monitored the results of our research
 Continued funding parent leader training
 Translated IY parent and teacher books
into Welsh
 Developed Flying Start (FS) programme
 Commissioned review of suitable
parenting programmes (IY included)
 Funded research on IY toddler
programme in FS areas across Wales 14

15. Other activities
 Developed workshops for managers on
evaluation and fidelity
 Obtained further funding to evaluate
other IY programmes
 Developed a 25 year strategy
 Continued to research the programmes

16. Parenting Programme:
research completed
•Welsh Sure Start study: short- and long-term
outcomes, outcomes for children at risk of
adhd, mediators and moderators of change,
maternal depression outcomes, key group
leader behaviours
•Pathfinder project: parenting 8 – 13 year olds
outcomes
•Toddler Programme: 1 – 2 yos, outcomes
•Nursery Staff Programme: outcomes
•Foster Carer: outcomes

17. Current Studies
• Assessing whether toddler programme
attendance increases parental language use
• IY School Readiness Programme for parents of
children as they enrol in school delivered by
school staff to build the home-school link
• IY Baby Programme for parents and babies
during their first year of life delivered by health
care staff

18. Thank you
For further information please visit
our research website
www.incredible-years-wales-
research.bangor.ac.uk
or
Email
j.hutchings@bangor.ac.uk