RISE: Prevention of Child Mental Health Problems in Southeastern Europe
Principal investigator: Professor Jamie M. Lachman
Funded by: Horizon 2020, European Commission, as part of the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases
Start date: 2018
End date: June 2022
Project outline
Overview
RISE adapted, optimised and evaluated Parenting for Lifelong Health for Young Children in North Macedonia, the Republic of Moldova and Romania. The study focused on vulnerable families with young children and tested how parenting support could help reduce child mental health problems, harsh parenting and family violence.
Parenting for Lifelong Health for Young Children is a group-based parenting programme for caregivers of children aged 2 to 9. RISE examined how the programme could be adapted for Southeastern Europe and tested across different delivery conditions.
Significance
Parenting programmes cannot simply be transferred from one country to another. They must be adapted to local cultures, languages and service systems while maintaining the evidence-based components that make them effective.
RISE combined intervention adaptation, optimisation and evaluation across three countries in Southeastern Europe. The study examined not only whether Parenting for Lifelong Health could be delivered successfully, but also which programme configurations were most feasible, acceptable and suitable for future scale-up.
Implementation
The study was conducted in three stages.
Stage 1: Adaptation
First, researchers and local partners assessed the cultural appropriateness and feasibility of Parenting for Lifelong Health for Young Children in each country. This included collaboration with UNICEF, government partners, academic institutions, civil society organisations, parenting professionals and parents.
Stage 2: Optimisation
Second, the team tested different versions of the programme to identify the most effective and cost-effective configuration for scale-up.
Stage 3: Evaluation
Third, the team evaluated the optimised intervention with vulnerable families across the three countries, examining effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and implementation feasibility.
The COVID-19 pandemic required adaptations to programme delivery, including the use of Zoom for remote group sessions.. This provided an opportunity to generate evidence on online parenting support during a period of major service disruption.
Findings
RISE demonstrated that Parenting for Lifelong Health for Young Children could be successfully adapted for families and service systems across North Macedonia, the Republic of Moldova and Romania.
The study generated evidence on programme engagement, implementation and monitoring across multiple country contexts. It also informed the selection of programme configurations that were most feasible and suitable for wider delivery.
Together, the findings helped establish a foundation for future scale-up and implementation of Parenting for Lifelong Health programmes in Southeastern Europe.
Frantz, I., Foran, H. M., Lachman, J. M., Jansen, E., Hutchings, J., Băban, A., and colleagues. (2019). Prevention of child mental health problems in Southeastern Europe: A multicentre sequential study to adapt, optimise and test the parenting programme Parenting for Lifelong Health for Young Children, protocol for stage 1, the feasibility study. BMJ Open, 9, e026684.
Lachman, J. M., Heinrichs, N., Jansen, E., Brühl, A., Taut, D., Fang, X., and colleagues. (2019). Preventing child mental health problems through parenting interventions in Southeastern Europe: Protocol for a multi-country cluster randomized factorial study. Contemporary Clinical Trials, 86, 105855.
Jansen, E., Lachman, J. M., Heinrichs, N., Hutchings, J., Băban, A., and Foran, H. M. (2020). Hunger in vulnerable families in Southeastern Europe: Associations with mental health and violence. Frontiers in Public Health, 8, 115.
Tăut, D., Băban, A., Frantz, I., Dănilă, I., Lachman, J. M., Heinrichs, N., and colleagues. (2021). Prevention of child mental health problems through parenting interventions in Southeastern Europe (RISE): Study protocol for a multi-site randomised controlled trial. Trials, 22, 960.
Jansen, E., Frantz, I., Hutchings, J., Lachman, J., Williams, M., Taut, D., and colleagues. (2022). Preventing child mental health problems in southeastern Europe: Feasibility study, phase 1 of the MOST framework. Family Process, 61(3), 1162-1179.
Williams, M. E., Foran, H. M., Hutchings, J., Frantz, I., Taut, D., Lachman, J. M., and colleagues. (2022). Exploring factors associated with parent engagement in a parenting program in Southeastern Europe. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 31(11), 3097-3112.
Brühl, A., Ward, C. L., Lachman, J. M., Foran, H. M., Raleva, M., Băban, A., and Heinrichs, N. (2023). Co-occurrence of intimate partner violence against mothers and maltreatment of their children with behavioral problems in eastern Europe. Violence Against Women, 29(12-13), 2439-2463.
Waller, F., Prandstetter, K., Jansen, E., Nikolova, G., Lachman, J. M., Hutchings, J., and Foran, H. M. (2023). Screen use: Its association with caregiver mental health, parenting, and children’s ADHD symptoms. Family Relations, 72(5), 2499-2515.
Prandstetter, K., Waller, F., Heinrichs, N., Hutchings, J., Ward, C. L., Dănilă, I., and colleagues. (2023). Measuring dysfunctional parenting: Psychometrics of three versions of the Parenting Scale. Family Relations, 72(3), 1254-1275.
Frantz, I., Foran, H. M., Lachman, J. M., Gardner, F., McMahon, R. J., Ogden, T., and colleagues. (2024). Adverse event assessment in a parenting programme: Experiences from a multisite randomised controlled trial. Trials, 25, 547.
Dănilă, I., Balazsi, R., Tăut, D., Băban, A., Foran, H. M., Heinrich, N., and colleagues. (2024). Linking child adjustment difficulties with mother’s maladaptive parental behavior: The mediating roles of parental cognitions and parenting stress. Family Process, 63(4), 2016-2036.
Katzef, C., Băban, A., Babbi, V., Fang, X., Foran, H., Gajdadzis-Knezhevikj, S., and colleagues. (2026). Taking parenting programs to scale: Lessons from studying Parenting for Lifelong Health for Young Children in South-Eastern Europe. Families in Society.