Development and Evaluation of an Online Parenting Program to Prevent Anxiety and Depression in Primary School-aged Children

This thesis outlines the development and post-intervention evaluation of novel web-based parenting program(Parenting Resilient Kids) targeted at parents of primary school-aged children (5-11 years) with the aim of preventing anxiety and depression. At post-intervention, PaRK did not produce superior effects compared to the active control condition on parenting risk and protective factors related to child anxiety and depression however, both groups showed improvements over time. High levels of adherence were observed suggesting high levels of intervention usage by parents, satisfaction as well as a potential benefit of persuasive systems design. Long-term follow-up is needed to determine whether the PaRK program produces universal preventive outcomes. Overall, this research raises important questions around the intensity, dose, and time-frame required to determine the ​effects of universal preventive parenting interventions. The relationship between intervention adherence and outcomes also remains to be explored.