WITHDRAWN: “Thrive”-Ing from the Start: Using a Common Components Analysis to Develop a Parent Education and Health Promotion Program for Families with Infants

Introduction: Evidence-based (EB) manualized programs are necessary for practitioners and clinicians to translate science to practice. However, developing such programs is a complicated process, with few guidelines for how developers should source and navigate the use of evidence. Further, among manualized parenting programs, few include specific parenting strategies around child health promotion (e.g., feeding strategies, screen time, and physical activity). This paper outlines our use of a common components analysis (CCA), based on the work of existing researchers, to develop Take Root!, an online universal parenting program, with a health promotion component, for families with infants ages birth to one.

Methods: Inclusion criteria were developed to guide the systematic review of manualized EB parenting programs that broadly align with the program’s learning domains of positive parenting, stress management, and child health promotion. An iterative process of coding was used to disassemble packaged programs into individual knowledge components (i.e., skills), which were subsequently defined, categorized, ranked, and scrutinized by an expert panel. A review of published obesity prevention literature was also conducted to identify additional strategies that informed the health promotion domain.

Results: Twelve EB programs were identified that fit the inclusion criteria. A list of nine knowledge components (e.g., positive parent-child interactions, developmental expectations) was confirmed by an expert panel: each fit into one or more of the Take Root! program domains. This list was supplemented by a catalog of activities and resources (e.g., goal-setting and problem solving activities; community resources and financial management guides) extracted from the EB programs, and identified via the CCA process. Health promotion components such as specific strategies to promote early infant health and nutrition, including feeding strategies; child safety; and parental self-care, were identified and included. These findings were used to guide the curriculum writing and activity development process, as well as a web-based learning platform that includes both text and video instruction to enhance participant engagement and outcomes.

Conclusions: The findings of this CCA contribute to the relatively thin literature on the key ingredients of effective parent education programs, especially those with intended health promotion outcomes. Further, this study develops a structured process for determining specific knowledge components and the methods used to teach them, which can be used by others seeking to efficiently integrate science into new and existing parenting and child health promotion programs across a range of contexts.