State of the Science and Practice in Parenting Interventions across Childhood: Literature Review and Synthesis

In 2009 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) funded a project designed to better understand how to support parents throughout children’s development in order to ultimately promote positive long-term outcomes; in particular, positive adolescent development and reductions in risky behavior. A major task of the project was a literature review that examines what is known about parenting across the developmental stages of childhood and adolescence, how different parenting dimensions or behaviors relate to outcomes for adolescence, and what is known about the strategies and effectiveness of interventions to improve parenting practices. The review draws on two linked research literatures: theoretical and empirical research on children’s development and the role played by parental and other influences on that development and on outcomes in adolescence; and evaluative research on programmatic approaches to improving parenting. The report was prepared under contract by Abt Associates. [72 PDF pages]