Strengthening parenting among refugees in Europe Erasmus Project

Project Title

Strengthening parenting among refugees in Europe

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Integration of refugees; Health and wellbeing

Project Summary

Today, 71 million people are experiencing forcible displacement in which 26 million are refugees (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees/ UNHCR, 2019; World Economic Forum, 2019). Globally, 1 in 200 children is a refugee and the group of refugee children is increasing in Europe (World Economic Forum, 2016). Children in refugee families are especially at risk for adjustment problems since they experience a cascade of significant life stressors. Several studies have demonstrated the importance of strengthening parenting practices to prevent and reduce serious adjustment problems in children at risk (Forehand, Lafko, Parent, & Burt, 2014; Forgatch, Patterson, DeGarmo, & Beldavs, 2009; Patterson, Forgatch, & DeGarmo, 2010). Moreover, knowing that parents are their children´s best teachers, supporting parents to raise their children is crucial. Therefore, the presented project “Strengthening Parenting Among Refugees in Europe” (SPARE) will be based on a well-documented program, namely The Oregon Model of Parent Management Training (PMTO), which has strong theoretical and research background and positive outcomes for parents and their children. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of the PMTO show long lasting effects on internalizing and externalizing behaviors in children and parenting practices. Furthermore, effects are found in increased standard of living, improved marital satisfaction, and reduced maternal depression and police arrests (Forgatch & Gewirtz, 2017; Patterson et al., 2010).
In addition to other countries, PMTO has been implemented nationwide in four European countries (Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and The Netherlands) where the delivery of PMTO to families has been sustained with high fidelity for over a decade. Therefore, the present group of specialists is well prepared to take on this project. PMTO has been adapted for diverse ethnic groups, which is of special relevance in the context of refugees and the SPARE project. Each adaptation maintains the core principles of the PMTO program while making necessary changes to address the needs of specific contexts and cultures. One adaptation of PMTO, “After Deployment, Adaptive Parenting Tools” (ADAPT; Gewirtz, Forgatch, & Rains, 2011), was designed to also address parental symptoms of PTSD and suicidality for military personnel. A randomized controlled trial of ADAPT shows positive parenting and child adjustment outcomes in addition to reductions in parents’ report of psychological distress, suicidality, and PTSD symptoms (Forgatch & Gewirtz, 2017; Gewirtz, DeGarmo, & Asnat, 2016).
The proposed SPARE project has four aims: 1) Adapt the PMTO program for refugee parents by including trauma components and the situation of refugee families in Europe. This includes the development of training material and programs for practitioners, link-workers, and parents ; 2) Test the adapted material and training programs for refugee groups in the four European countries (Norway, Iceland, Denmark, and the Netherlands) through the Erasmus grant; 3) Test the program´s feasibility (acceptance and satisfaction) and evaluate main study outcomes (child adjustment, parenting practices, and parent well-being) in the participating European countries; 4) Prepare further dissemination for refugee families within the participating nations and in other European countries.
Participants in the presented project are: a) Refugee parents of children aged 2 – 18. Each of the four participating countries will deliver SPARE to 3 refugee parent groups with about 15 refugee parents in each group (maximum N=200); b) Trainers of the SPARE groups in which two trainers work with each group. To begin, each nation will train four trainers (total N=16) who have differing professional backgrounds. All are certified to deliver the PMTO program; they will receive extra training to deliver SPARE to the refugee population. Additionally, 16 link-workers (4 in each nation) will be trained. Link-workers are members of the refugees’ culture and connected to each refugee parent group to support parents and link the communication between trainers and parents. The link-workers will receive basic SPARE training.
Main long-term benefits of the project are: 1) The SPARE program will be refined to address outcomes from the feasibility study; 2) All material needed to deliver SPARE to refugee parents will be available; 3) A fully developed training program will be ready and available; 4) Ongoing SPARE group delivery will be carried out in the participating countries; and ultimately, 5) Other European countries will have access to implement the SPARE program and will receive needed resources and support for the implementation. The feasibility study carried out parallel to group delivery in each country will yield a program that has been tested for feasibility with findings for main outcome variables, and the program will be introduced to the European nations for systematic dissemination.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 251164 Eur

Project Coordinator

HASKOLI ISLANDS & Country: IS

Project Partners

• PI Research
• VIA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
• Nasjonalt utviklingssenter for barn og unge as