SynthesisClinical child and family psychology review2024
Universal Digital Programs for Promoting Mental and Relational Health for Parents of Young Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in Clinical child and family psychology review, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Online Parenting Programs for Children's Behavioral and Emotional Problems: a Network Meta-Analysis.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The Effects of Online Behavioral Parenting Interventions on Child Outcomes, Parenting Ability and Parent Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Clinical child and family psychology review · 2024Pooled it
- Outcomes of Best-Practice Guided Digital Mental Health Interventions for Youth and Young Adults with Emerging Symptoms: Part II. A Systematic Review of User Experience Outcomes.Clinical child and family psychology review · 2024Pooled it
- Parent-focused online video intervention for promoting parenting sense of competence: a randomized controlled trial.Pediatric research · 2025Trial
- Parent-Infant Relational Health in a Disaster-Affected Region: A Qualitative Examination of Lived Experience and Perceived Impact of a Brief, Online Support Program.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Article
- Mind the Gap: Exploring Parental Intentions, Actual Engagement, and Associated Outcomes in Tailored Digital Parent Training.Pediatric reports · 2026Article
- Effectiveness of a universal digital-human parenting intervention in promoting early childhood development and protection: A pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- The Flourishing Child: Study Protocol for an Acceptability and Feasibility Trial of a Digital Early Childhood Flourishing Intervention.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Using a Digital Parenting Intervention to Prevent Intimate Partner Violence and Promote Gender Equitable Behaviors in South Africa and Jamaica: A Qualitative Study Exploring Partnered Parents' Experiences of ParentText.Violence against women · 2026Article
- Using Co-Design to Adapt a Digital Parenting Program for Parents Seeking Mental Health Support.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- MERTILChildren (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Essential Design Principles for a Family Digital Mental Health Intervention: A Delphi Study.Journal of marital and family therapy · 2025Article
- A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Parenting C.A.R.E. Program: A Virtual Synchronously Delivered Intervention.Child psychiatry and human development · 2025Article
- BePresent Universal Internet-Based Parenting Intervention: Single-Arm Pre-Post Intervention Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Embedding Technology-Assisted Parenting Interventions in Real-World Settings to Empower Parents of Children With Adverse Childhood Experiences: Co-Design Study.JMIR formative research · 2024Article
- Digital Interventions for Combating Internet Addiction in Young Children: Qualitative Study of Parent and Therapist Perspectives.JMIR pediatrics and parenting · 2024Article
- A systematic literature review of digital mental health interventions in providing support for children and their families.Digital healthReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Digital parenting programs aim to increase program access, improve psychosocial outcomes for parents and children, and support triage to targeted interventions where required. This meta-analysis assessed the efficacy of online parenting programs in improving parenting skills and capabilities, and by consequence, the mental health and well-being of parents and children, and the quality of the parent-child relationship. Studies were included if they were: (1) online, (2) self-delivered, (3) designed for universal general population prevention, (4) evaluated experimental or quasi-experimental designs, and (5) assessed parent and child emotional and/or relational health, from pregnancy to 5 years of age. A systematic search of electronic databases and grey literature identified 22 studies that met inclusion criteria, including 24 independent samples, with 5671 unique parents. Meta-analyses were conducted using random effects models and Cohen's d effects. Small-to-moderate improvements in parent depression, anxiety, self-efficacy, and social support were observed. No effects on parent stress, satisfaction, or parent-child relationship quality were observed. Meta-regression and sub-group analysis were conducted to identify sensitivity or moderation effects. Collectively, findings suggest any benefits of online parenting programs mostly occur at the time of the intervention, for parent mental health and well-being outcomes, and that enduring effects are unlikely. However, given the cost effectiveness and accessibility of online programs, further research into ways of sustaining effects on parenting outcomes is warranted. Furthermore, given the centrality of the parent-child bond to child development across the lifecourse, additional investment in new digitally facilitated approaches focusing on this bond are likewise warranted.PROSPERO registration CRD42021275647.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.