Evidence from around the world, more than 40 years of research and development. The Parenting and Family Support Centre (PFSC) was established in June 1996, marking the start of a quarter of a century of sustained research innovation and achievement.
The PFSC is a world leader in the field of evidence-based parenting intervention, and has international impact on parenting and child research, policy and practice. We have been a global leader in the development, evaluation, and dissemination of a public health approach to evidence-based parenting support, resulting in the PFSC’s flagship program known as the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program (Triple P). This unique multilevel system of evidence-based parenting support has become the most extensively studied and widely disseminated parenting program in the world. Triple P is used in 72 countries in 22 languages, and has reached millions of families, with around 100,000 practitioners trained worldwide. Triple P is UQ’s leading social science innovation resulting in the successful scaling and commercialisation of UQ intellectual property.
With this level of reach and success you would think our job was done. Yet in Australia, nearly a quarter of children are;
- overweight or obese
- virtually all children are exceeding screen time guidelines and it remains one of parents’ greatest concerns
- child and adolescent mental health problems are on the rise
- half of six year olds develop tooth decay
- child maltreatment affects far too many children
- gender stereotypes continue to shape children’s social, academic, and ultimately employment choices
These seemingly different domains all have one thing in common – parenting. The role of parents in influencing the lives of young children is considerable: from the screen time choices they make, to the extent to which they guide their children into healthy lifestyle behaviours, to the gendered roles they model and reinforce parents have the unique capacity to shape healthy and resilient behaviours in children.
Our research tackles some of these complex problems to understand the role of parents, and to develop effective ways to support parents in raising the next generation in what is a rapidly changing world.