Triple P - Positive Parenting Program®—Variants suitable for home visiting
No Triple P intervention is exclusively delivered in the home with families with children from birth through age 5. This profile is based on (1) studies of programs that provided Triple P services in the home to families with children from birth through age 5, and (2) developer input on the Triple P interventions suitable for delivery in the home with families with children from birth through age 5.
Last updated: 2019
In brief
Evidence of model effectiveness
This model does not meet the criteria established by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for an “evidence-based early childhood home visiting service delivery model” for the general population or for tribal populations because the findings from high- or moderate-rated effectiveness studies of the model do not meet all required criteria.
Model description
Triple P – Positive Parenting Program® (Triple P) is a parenting and family support system designed to prevent and treat behavioral and emotional problems in children from birth through their teenage years. To meet the needs of different families and implementing agencies, the Triple P system includes interventions that increase in intensity across five levels of service. The system also includes a range of delivery methods (such as one-on-one consultations in the home or group seminars) and can be provided by staff from multiple disciplines (including paraprofessionals, counselors, and nurses). The intensity and length of services also vary by intervention. For example, Primary Care Triple P (Level 3) includes approximately four weekly individual consultations of 15 to 30 minutes each, and Enhanced Triple P (Level 5) includes approximately eight weekly individualized sessions, each lasting 60 to 90 minutes.
The HomVEE review is based on studies of programs that provided Triple P services in the home to families with children from birth through age 5 (Triple P–Variants suitable for home visiting).
This report also includes reviews of one module (Child Management Training) of a Level 4 Triple P intervention and a version of an adaptation of Triple P (Standard Stepping Stones Triple P) for children with a disability; both of which are suitable for delivery in the home. During the Child Management Training module, practitioners meet with parents in the home and explain how parents can help teach their children new behaviors using strategies such as descriptive praise and contingent consequences. The practitioner provides verbal and written instruction and models behavior in an effort to teach parents steps intended to modify their child’s behavior. Then, the practitioner observes parent–child interactions and provides verbal feedback and written enrichment materials. (As Triple P was being developed, this module was originally called Instructions + Feedback.) Standard Stepping Stones is an adaptation of Triple P intended specifically for parents of children with disabilities. It provides assessment of parenting strategies and then instruction and support that aim to promote child competencies in social and language skills, emotional skills, independence, and problem solving.
For more information about Triple P–Variants suitable for home visiting, please read the Model Overview.
Extent of evidence
Note: For this model, several Triple P studies compared various components of the model, sometimes in a single-case design format with multiple phases. For screening and reviewing studies, we focused on those with a contrast between Triple P—Home Visiting and a non-Triple P condition. Comparisons between different home visiting components within the same model are not eligible for review by HomVEE.
For more information, read the research database. For more information on the criteria used to rate research, please see details of HomVEE’s methods and standards.
Criteria established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Notes: If the model does not meet criterion 3 but meets criteria 1 and 2 based on findings from subgroups, the impacts must be replicated in the same domain in two or more studies using non-overlapping analytic study samples. HomVEE assesses and reports criteria 4 and 5 for all models that have well-designed research, but meeting those two criteria is only required of models for which all findings are from randomized controlled trials. Please read the HHS criteria for evidence-based models for more information.