title: Enhancing the parent-child relationship: a Hong Kong community-based randomized controlled trial.
abstract: Adolescence is a critical risk period for negative academic and behavioral outcomes, but a strong parent-child relationship can be a powerful protective factor. Our previous pilot of an academic-community agency collaborative randomized controlled trial (RCT) demonstrated initial evidence of benefit for a parenting intervention with preadolescents in Hong Kong. The present RCT assessed the effect of brief training in positive discipline parenting skills on parental satisfaction with the parent-child relationship. A community sample of 461 Hong Kong Chinese parents of children aged 10-13 years were randomized to (a) the Harmony@Home intervention, (b) an attention control, or (c) a third active intervention that shared the control group. Participants were followed for 12 months and multiple methods of assessment were used. Compared with the control group, the Harmony@Home group reported an increase in the primary outcome of satisfaction with the parent-child relationship at 3 months' postintervention. Although results are mixed, this study demonstrates how a culturally adaptive community intervention can improve the parental behaviors that serve as protective factors against negative academic and behavioral outcomes for Chinese adolescents.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Cecilia S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Fabrizio
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
authors.forename: Sunita M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Alison K Y
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Ip
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Tai Hing
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Lam
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D010290:Parents / Q000193:education; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D016896:Treatment Outcome