Information leaflet for study participants

Information about the Be Present for Your Child study

You have been invited to take part in the Be Present for Your Child study. Taking part in the study is voluntary, and you can drop out at any time during the study. If you decline or drop out, this will have no negative consequences for you or your child.

Background of the study: Parental guidance programmes can promote the wellbeing and interaction of the child, the parent or the whole family. Universal parenting programmes that are suitable for everybody aim to strengthen key parenting skills. Digital parenting programmes are often cost effective, and they also save time. They are not bound to a specific time or place, so they can be used whenever suits you best. We do, however, need more research into how the programmes are used. 

Objectives: The objective of this scientific study is to assess the use of a digital parenting programme aimed at the families of three-year-olds.

We are inviting all families whose child is taking part in a health check for three-year-olds at a participating child health clinic to join the study. In some of the participating areas, the families of three-year-olds can join the study through the local child health clinic’s website without having to contact the clinic.

Who is carrying out the study? The study is carried out by the Research Centre for Child Psychiatry at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Turku. The study is led by Andre Sourander, Professor of Child Psychiatry. The study is carried out in collaboration with your municipality.

How will the research data be collected? The data used in the study will be collected through electronic surveys aimed at the guardians which are filled out in a digital parenting programme, and through the data collected by the programme. The guardian/guardians will take part in the Be Present for Your Child programme, which aims to strengthen parenting skills and increase the parents’ ability to manage everyday situations. The programme contains five sessions where topics are covered with the help of written material, videos and exercises. Throughout the programme you will also get reminders about using the programme via text message and email. You can stop the text messages whenever you want via your profile. The duration of the Be Present for Your Child programme is eight weeks. After the eight weeks have passed the programme will close. Eight weeks after you joined the programme you will be sent a request to fill out a survey. You will also be sent reminders if you haven’t filled out the survey

What does it mean to participate in the study?

1. You agree to participate in the study, and you will complete electronic surveys. The surveys will help us to track everyday situations and the child’s behaviour. Filling out the surveys will take around 15–30 minutes. We will ask you to fill out surveys before starting the programme and after completing it. Your responses to the Voimaperheet survey when the child turns 4 can also be used to evaluate the results of this study.
2. The digital parenting programme, which is part of the study, is completely web-based, and you can use it for eight weeks to whatever extent you want. If you wish, you can also drop out of the programme at any time. You can drop out in the programme profile.  If you wish, you can also cancel the text reminders that the programme sends out in your profile.
3. We will ask you to fill out surveys before starting the programme and after completing it. The surveys are electronic. You may also be asked to take part in follow-up surveys later on.

Contact person for the study:

Kaisa Mishina, Senior Researcher
Phone: +358 50 310 1358
Email: olelasna@utu.fi
Postal address: Research Centre for Child Psychiatry, Lemminkäisenkatu 3, 20014 University of Turku

The study is led by Andre Sourander, Professor of Child Psychiatry.

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