Violence against children is widely prevalent in Thailand, and has immediate and long-term adverse effects on physical and mental health. The goal of this study was to determine the cultural appropriateness and feasibility of the intervention in community-based hospital settings, and to assess intervention effectiveness in reducing the risk of violence against children, improving parental mental health, reducing child behavioural problems, and strengthening parent-child relationships.
A randomised trial of Parenting for Lifelong Health for Young Children (PLH-YC) in Thailand showed reduced child maltreatment, parent mental health problems and child behaviour problems, and improved parenting. Findings indicated that the programme reduced child maltreatment by 58%, harsh and abusive parenting by 44%, parental mental health problems by 40%, and child behaviour problems by 60% in the intervention group in comparison to a control condition of services as usual. The University of Oxford, the Ministry of Public Health, and UNICEF Thailand are currently planning to scale up the programme to a total of 7 provinces in Northeast Thailand.
The video below is the full-length version, in Thai with English subtitles