Nurtured Heart Parenting Intervention for Child Behavioural Problems

Behavioural problems are prevalent in children, yet the consequences can be significant for the child, family and wider society. Effective intervention is paramount in reducing the impact of childhood behavioural problems. The Nurtured Heart Approach (NHA; Glasser \& Easley, 2016) is an atheoretical parenting intervention which aims to reduce childhood behavioural problems. Although used in clinical practice, there is little empirical research on the effectiveness of the NHA. The aims of the study were to examine whether the NHA reduced parent-reported child behavioural problems, reduced negative parenting practices, and increased parental reflective functioning. The study used a multiple baseline single case design. Parents of children with behavioural problems were recruited from CAMHS waiting lists. The NHA was delivered in a guided self-help format, using the Transforming the Intense Child workbook (Glasser, 2016) and weekly phone calls. Data collection involved psychometric measures of parent-reported child behavioural problems, parenting practices and parental reflecting functioning. Measures were repeated throughout baseline and intervention phases. A follow-up four weeks after the intervention included final measure administration and a change interview. The data were graphed and visually analysed. Supplementary analysis included reliable and clinically significant change, Tau-U and percentage exceeding the median. Framework analysis was used to analyse the change interview.