KEY POINTS:
A researcher behind an American study that reduced child abuse rates in areas of South Carolina is setting up a research group at Auckland University's education faculty.
Professor Matthew Sanders was the co-investigator on a five-year study in South Carolina that found lower rates of confirmed abuse cases, child out-of-home placements, and child injuries in communities where the positive parenting programme, or Triple-P, was implemented.
Its key finding was an estimated 688 fewer cases of child maltreatment for every 100,000 children aged under 8 in communities where the programme was made available.
Professor Sanders said it was the first large-scale study to show that by providing all families with access to proven parenting information and support, rates of child maltreatment in whole communities could be reduced.
He believed similar results could be achieved here.
The programme offered strategies for parents struggling with problems such as tantrums, sleeping and bullying, helping families to overcome them before they got out of hand.
Professor Sanders is an adjunct professor of parenting studies and family psychology at Auckland University's education faculty, and director of the Parenting and Family Support Centre at the University of Queensland.
- NZPA
