Mellow Toddlers
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.
Mellow Toddlers is a group-based programme delivered to mothers or fathers (separate groups for each) with identified parenting difficulties and who have a child between the ages of one and three.
Parents attend 14 weekly sessions (five hours' duration each), and are also visited in their homes before the programme to introduce parents to the programme and videotape their interaction with their child for use in future sessions.
Each session involves a reflective group in the morning and a parenting workshop based on strengths-based video feedback in the afternoon. ‘Have a go’ activities are given at the end of sessions to encourage parents to apply what they have learned in the home.
EIF Programme Assessment
Mellow Toddlers 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:
Enhancing school achievement & employment
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.
Mellow Toddlers
Key programme characteristics
Who is it for?
The best available evidence for this programme relates to the following age-groups:
- Toddlers
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
The programme may also be delivered in these settings:
- Home
- Primary school
- Community centre
- Out-patient health setting
How is it targeted?
The best available evidence for this programme relates to its implementation as:
- Targeted indicated
Where has it been implemented?
United Kingdom
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
Mellow Toddlers
About the programme
What happens during delivery?
How is it delivered?
- Six mothers and their children attend 14 weekly sessions that are delivered by two practitioners. Each session takes place over a period of five hours.
What happens during the intervention?
- At each of the 14 sessions, during the morning part of the session, mothers participate in group discussions where they explore how their personal histories with their own parents are impacting their current relationship with their children.
- The mothers then receive coaching on how to interact with their child during the lunch session.
- In the afternoon, the practitioners lead a group discussion of videotapes of the mothers interacting with their children.
- ‘Have a go’ activities are given at the end of sessions to encourage parents to apply what they have learned in the home.
What are the implementation requirements?
Who can deliver it?
- This programme is delivered by two practitioners, both are family support workers/early years practitioners/health visitors with QCF-4/5 qualifications.
What are the training requirements?
- The practitioners have 21 hours of programme training. Booster training of practitioners is recommended.
How are the practitioners supervised?
- It is recommended that practitioners are supervised by two host-agency supervisors (qualified to QCF-6 level), and one host-agency supervisor.
What are the systems for maintaining fidelity?
- Fidelity is maintained through the supervision process.
Is there a licensing requirement?
There is no licence required to run this programme.
How does it work? (Theory of Change)
How does it work?
- Mellow Toddlers is based on the assumption that parenting behaviours are influenced by the quality of parents’ relationship with their own parents.
- Mellow Toddlers aims to improve the parent/child relationship by creating a supportive environment where parents can safely explore their childhood experiences and repair difficult feelings that may interfere with their ability to respond sensitively to their child’s needs.
- Parents learn how to sensitively respond to their children’s needs.
- Sensitive parenting, in turn, supports children’s sense of wellbeing and positive behaviour.
Intended outcomes
Preventing child maltreatment
Contact details
Christine Puckering
Mellow Parenting
[email protected]
http://www.mellowparenting.org/
Mellow Toddlers
About the evidence
Mellow Toddler’s most rigorous evidence comes from a QED which was conducted in the UK.
This study identified statistically significant positive impact on a number of child and parent outcomes.
A programme receives the same rating as its most robust study, which in this case is the Puckering et al. (1999) and Allely et al. (2014) studies, and so the programme receives a Level 2 rating overall.
Note: This evidence was used as part of a recent systematic review and meta-analysis that considered findings from these two evaluations 1a and 1b, along with findings from evaluations involving other versions of Mellow Parenting programmes (Macbeth et al., 2015).
Study 1a
| Citation: | Puckering, et al (1999) |
|---|---|
| Design: | QED |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Sample: | 69 families |
| Timing: | Post-test; one-year follow-up |
| Child outcomes: |
Improved child IQ
Improved child behaviour |
| Other outcomes: | Improved maternal mental state Improved sensitivity |
| Study rating: | 2 |
Puckering, C., Mills, M., Cox, A. D., Maddox, H., & Evans, J. (1999). Improving the quality of family support; Mellow Parenting: An intensive intervention. Final report, Department of Health.
Study design and sample
The first study is a QED.
This study was conducted in the UK, and compared 69 Scottish mothers attending Mellow Toddlers running in four community centres to 29 mothers attending four centres where the programme was not running.
Measures
Child emotional and behavioural status were measured using methods derived from Richman’s questionnaire (parent report). Child developmental measures (communication, socialisation) were measured using the Vineland Social Maturity Scale (parent report). Child intelligence (performance, verbal) was measured using the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) Full Scale (achievement test).
Maternal mental state was measured using methods developed by Quinton et al. (1976) and Quinton & Rutter (1985) (parent report). Parent-child interaction was measured using observations coded following the Mellow Parenting Coding Scheme (expert observation of behaviour). Parental daily hassles were measured using the Parental Hassle Scale (parent report).
Findings
This study identified statistically significant positive impact on a number of child and parent outcomes.
Child outcomes include:
- Improved behaviour
- Improved IQ
- Improved parent-child interaction
The conclusions that can be drawn from this study are limited by methodological issues pertaining to a lack of baseline equivalence between study groups, hence why a higher rating is not achieved.
Study 1b
| Citation: | Allely et al (2014) |
|---|---|
| Design: | QED |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Sample: | 33 families (subset of 69 families in part 1a of the study eligible to be tested) |
| Timing: | - |
| Child outcomes: | |
| Other outcomes: | None measured |
Allely, C. S., Puckering, C., Mills, M., Cox, A. D., Evans, J., & Maddox, H. (2014). The impact of the Mellow Parenting Programme on later measures of childhood verbal IQ. Journal of Educational and Child Psychology, 31, 28-37.
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.
Macbeth, A., Law, J., McGowan, I., Norrie, J., Thompsons, L. & Wilson, P. (2015). Mellow Parenting: systematic review and meta-analysis of an intervention to promote sensitive parenting. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, DOI: 10.1111/dmcn.12864 - This reference refers to a meta-analysis.
Puckering, C., Rogers, J., Mills, M., Cox, A. D. Mattsson-Graff, M. (1994). Process and evaluation of a group intervention for mothers with parenting difficulties. Child Abuse Rev., 3, 299–310 - This reference refers to a pre-post study, conducted in the UK.
Published April 2024