Standard Teen Triple P Programme
A 10-week parenting programme for the parents of children at the Edge-of-Care.
Evaluation type
Funding round
A supportive homeActivity Type
Setting
Evaluator
Completed
July 2025| Project | Funding | Region |
|---|---|---|
| Triple P | £1,651,862 | East of England, North West, West Midlands |
What does this project involve?
Standard Teen Triple P (STTP) is a 10-week parenting programme which aims to help parents and caregivers manage problematic behaviour and improve the relationship with their child. Sessions cover practical ways to support children to develop emotional regulation, handle risky situations, make good decisions, and develop communication and problem-solving skills.
The intervention was developed by Professor Matthew Sanders and colleagues from the School of Psychology at the University of Queensland. In this project, STTP was targeted at parents/caregivers of 11-15 year olds at the Edge-of-Care (at risk of entering the care system). Sessions were delivered by social care practitioners (trained and accredited by delivery team Triple P UK) within participating local authority areas.
Why did YEF fund this project?
As the YEF Toolkit explains, there is good evidence that parenting programmes can reduce behavioural difficulties and good reason to believe that this could lead to reductions in violence. In addition, children at the Edge-of-Care are especially vulnerable to involvement in violence, and so it was theorised that the programme could support them to improve behaviour and, therefore, protect them from violence. STTP is also a programme typically delivered to families with complex needs, including high levels of conflict.
YEF, therefore, funded a pilot study that aimed to establish whether STTP for this cohort of children could be robustly evaluated at scale for its impact on violence. Specifically, the pilot study aimed to establish whether proceeding to an impact evaluation of STTP in the Edge-of-Care setting was feasible, examine the implementation of STTP, ascertain the acceptability of the intervention to participants and practitioners, and explore whether STTP may lead to any adverse consequences.
The evaluation piloted a two-arm randomised controlled trial across six local authority sites (Birmingham, Cambridgeshire, Wirral, London Borough of Merton, Peterborough and Gloucestershire). Thirty-two parents/caregivers and twelve children (from 24 families) participated, with 12 families randomised to receive the programme, and 12 to receive support as usual.
Of the parents/caregivers and children who participated, 59% were White British, 11% Asian or Asian British – Pakistani, 11% from Mixed backgrounds (White and Black Caribbean or White and Black African), 7% from Black backgrounds, 7% from other White backgrounds and 5% from any other ethnic group. The evaluation collected quantitative data (including programme data on participation, participant socio-demographic data, and a range of outcome measures) and qualitative data (including semi-structured interviews with ten parents, five children, 11 practitioners and 15 professionals). The study ran from July 2023 to September 2024.
Key conclusions
| Proceeding to a trial of STTP is not feasible. This is due to challenges faced in recruiting families. |
| Recruitment to the trial was far lower than expected (less than 10% of planned numbers were successfully recruited). Challenges to recruitment included the high level of need experienced by families at the edge of care and Teen Triple P already being offered by half of the sites outside of the trial. |
| Programme fidelity was high, with 70–100% of sessions attended by parents/caregivers and most session components delivered by practitioners. Some barriers to delivery were identified, and attrition rates were high at the point of the six-month follow-up post-intervention (with 50% of parents/caregivers and 67% of children no longer engaged). No adverse events related to the programme were reported. |
| Participating parents, caregivers and children generally felt positive about the programme, but some practitioners expressed doubts about the suitability of the programme for the families they support. |
| The pilot provides lessons for future evaluations of interventions within social care settings, such as the need to ensure the appropriate positioning of interventions for families at the edge of care and the need for early consultation with social care practitioners regarding delivery. |
What will YEF do next?
YEF is not proceeding to efficacy trial of Triple P due to the challenges faced in recruiting families into the programme meaning further evaluation is not feasible. This is why YEF use pilot studies: to test the feasibility of a large-scale impact study before expending significant time and resource on delivering one.