5 Pillars of Parenting (4–11 Years)
Note on provider involvement: This provider has agreed to EIF’s terms of reference, and the assessment has been conducted and published with the full cooperation of the programme provider.
5 Pillars of Parenting (4–11 Years) is a targeted-selected programme, aimed at Muslim parents with a child between the ages of 4 and 11 years.
The programme is delivered in eight weekly sessions by a lead and co-practitioner, to groups of 10–14 parents. In these sessions, parents learn how to communicate more effectively with their child, set appropriate boundaries, encourage positive child behaviour, manage negative behaviour, and improve the parent–child relationship.
EIF Programme Assessment
5 Pillars of Parenting (4–11 Years) has preliminary evidence of improving a child outcome, but we cannot be confident that the programme caused the improvement.
What does the evidence rating mean?
Level 2 indicates that the programme has evidence of improving a child outcome from a study involving at least 20 participants, representing 60% of the sample, using validated instruments.
This programme does not receive a rating of 3 as its best evidence is not from a rigorously conducted RCT or QED evaluation.
A rating of 2 indicates that a programme has a medium-low cost to set up and deliver, compared with other interventions reviewed by EIF. This is equivalent to an estimated unit cost of £100–£499.
Child outcomes
According to the best available evidence for this programme's impact, it can achieve the following positive outcomes for children:
Supporting children's mental health and wellbeing
Preventing crime, violence and antisocial behaviour
This programme also has evidence of supporting positive outcomes for couples, parents or families that may be relevant to a commissioning decision. Please see About the evidence for more detail.
5 Pillars of Parenting (4–11 Years)
Key programme characteristics
Who is it for?
The best available evidence for this programme relates to the following age-groups:
- Preschool
- Primary school
How is it delivered?
The best available evidence for this programme relates to implementation through these delivery models:
- Group
Where is it delivered?
The best available evidence for this programme relates to its implementation in these settings:
- Children's centre or early-years setting
- Primary school
- Community centre
How is it targeted?
The best available evidence for this programme relates to its implementation as:
- Targeted selective
5 Pillars of Parenting is now also beginning to be delivered to smaller groups of 6-8 parents, in the form of online webinar sessions.
Where has it been implemented?
Bosnia and Herzegovina, United Kingdom, Ireland
UK provision
This programme has been implemented in the UK.
UK evaluation
This programme’s best evidence includes evaluation conducted in the UK.
Spotlight sets
EIF includes this programme in the following Spotlight sets:
- Parenting programmes with violence reduction outcomes
5 Pillars of Parenting (4–11 Years)
About the programme
What happens during delivery?
How is it delivered?
- 5 Pillars of Parenting (4–11 Years) is delivered in eight weekly sessions of 2 hours’ duration each by a lead practitioner and co-practitioner, to groups of 10–14 families.
- Note: participants need to complete a minimum of five (out of eight) sessions. If participants miss two consecutive sessions, they will be asked to repeat the programme, unless they are able to compensate for the missed sessions on a 1:1 basis with an accredited trainer.
What happens during the intervention?
- Throughout the programme, parents are taught knowledge and skills from evidence-based psychological models, including behavioural, social learning and family systems theories. These teachings are combined within an Islamic framework and so are uniquely suited for Muslim families.
- Parents learn effective strategies, appropriate parenting styles, and coaching techniques for communicating with their child, managing negative child behaviour and reducing parental stress.
- Learning takes place through instruction, roleplay, videos and group discussions. Parents are also given homework tasks to consolidate and practice the techniques and concepts taught in the individual sessions.
- The 5 Pillars of Parenting that are addressed simultaneously over the course of the eight weeks are:
- Character: identifying the importance of having a good character; possessing and displaying integrity, morality, personality, and positive behaviour.
- Knowledge: learning new skills and strategies, and encouraging parents to act on this knowledge.
- Action: encouraging participants to put their new learnt parenting techniques into practice.
- Steadfast: helping participants overcome the difficulties that may arise as they begin to test out the new techniques.
- Positive relationships: working towards strengthening family bonds to create meaningful and permanent positive relationships.
What are the implementation requirements?
Who can deliver it?
- 5 Pillars of Parenting (4–11 Years) is delivered by a lead practitioner and co-practitioner.
- Lead practitioners are recommended to have a minimum QCF level 4/5 qualification in psychology or a related profession. It is also expected that they will have good knowledge of the Islamic faith and culture, as well as experience of working with Muslim families.
- Co-practitioners must have a minimum QCF level 3 qualification.
What are the training requirements?
- Lead and co-practitioners must attend four days of accredited programme training, to gain the Award in Education and Teaching qualification. As part of their training, practitioners must also deliver their first programme alongside an experienced and licensed trainer.
- Booster training of practitioners is recommended, and comprises of 2–4 hours per year.
How are the practitioners supervised?
Practitioner supervision is provided through the following processes:
- It is recommended that practitioners are supervised for a total of two hours per full programme delivery by one host agency supervisor (qualified to QCF level 4/5), with 32 hours of programme training.
- It is also recommended that practitioners are supervised for a total of two hours per full programme delivery by a clinical supervisor (qualified to QCF level 7/8), with 50–60 hours of programme training.
What are the systems for maintaining fidelity?
Programme fidelity is maintained through the following processes:
- Training manual
- Other printed material
- Video or DVD training
- Face-to-face training
- Fidelity monitoring.
Is there a licensing requirement?
Yes, there is a licence required to run this programme.
How does it work? (Theory of Change)
How does it work?
- Parents from minority ethnic and/or faith communities do not engage with generic parenting programmes for various reasons, one being that they do not share the same value system. There is therefore a need to tailor parenting programmes according to different cultures, while at the same time recognising the commonalties of parenting that are present across all cultures.
- 5 Pillars of Parenting is based on indications that certain cultural parenting practices inadvertently reinforce the child’s behavioural and emotional problems.
- The programme aims to replace ineffective parenting practices with more effective and positive parenting behaviours, which are linked to psychological principals found within the Islamic faith.
- In the short term, parents learn how to communicate more effectively with their child, set appropriate boundaries, encourage positive child behaviour, manage negative behaviour, as well as improve parent-child relationships and parenting competence.
- In the longer term, children’s behaviour will improve, parents will experience less stress and be confident in implementing parenting strategies and problem-solving techniques, resulting in the family experiencing greater harmony.
Intended outcomes
Supporting children's mental health and wellbeing
Contact details
Kathleen Roche-Nagi
Managing Director
Approachable Parenting
[email protected]
[email protected]
5 Pillars of Parenting (4–11 Years)
About the evidence
5 Pillars of Parenting's (4–11 Years) most rigorous evidence comes from a pre-post study conducted in the UK. This study identified statistically significant positive impact on a number of child and parent outcomes. It is rated as level 2, providing preliminary evidence. Therefore, the programme receives a level 2 rating overall.
Study 1
| Citation: | Approachable Parenting (2017) |
|---|---|
| Design: | Pre-post |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Sample: | 160 families, with children aged between 0 and 15 years |
| Timing: | Post-test |
| Child outcomes: |
Improved emotional symptoms
Improved conduct problems Improved impact score Improved hyperactivity Improved peer problems Improved pro-social behaviour |
| Other outcomes: | Improved parental verbosity Improved parental over-reactivity Improved parental laxness Reduced parental depression Reduced parental anxiety Reduced parental stress |
| Study rating: | 2 |
Approachable Parenting. (2017). Evaluating the Impact of the 5 Pillars of Parenting 4-11 Years Programme. Approachable Parenting Report.
Request access by contacting:
[email protected]
Study design and sample
This is a pre-post only study.
The study was conducted in the UK, with a community sample of 160 parents who had participated in the programme between 2009 and 2014. The age of the parents’ children ranged from 0-15 years, but the majority (80%) were aged between 4-11 years. Most parents (62.6%) described themselves as Asian or Asian British (including Pakistani, Indian, Bangladeshi or Kashmiri), and their educational background was varied: no/primary education (8.7%), secondary education (19.4%), further education (15.0%), and higher education (28.8%).
Measures
- Child behaviour (including emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity, peer relationship problems, and prosocial behaviour) was measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire ( parent report).
- Parental discipline practices (including laxness, overreactivity, and verbosity) were measured using the Parenting Scale ( parent report).
- Parental mental health and wellbeing (including parental levels of depression, anxiety and stress) were measured using the 21-Item Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (parent report).
Findings
This study identified statistically significant positive impact on a number of child and parent outcomes. All measures of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, Parenting Scale, and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale were significantly improved. In addition, subgroup analyses provided to EIF separately confirmed that all significant pre-post effects were maintained within the target population exclusively (i.e. parents of children aged 4-11 years old).
Other studies
The following studies were identified for this programme but did not count towards the programme's overall evidence rating. A programme receives the same rating as its most robust study or studies.
Roche-Nagi, K. and Hussein, H. (2011). Research Report on Five Pillars of Parenting. Approachable Parenting Report - This reference refers to a pre-post study, conducted in the UK.
Published April 2024