New assessment of the evidence level for ICDP gives a score of 4 out of 5 possible, and it is classified as having satisfactory documentation of effectiveness.
Through the International Child Development Programme (ICDP), parents can receive support in their caregiving role. The measure is considered to have satisfactory documentation of its effect in the latest knowledge summary in Ungsinn magazine.
Summary
Background: This article is a knowledge summary on the effects of the International Child Development Programme (ICDP) initiative in Norway. The article is a revision of two previous descriptions of the same initiative in Ungsinn (Reedtz, 2014; Reedtz & Lauritzen, 2017). ICDP is a parent guidance program that seeks to support children’s psychosocial development by strengthening caregivers’ competence in their caregiving for children. The initiative is a low-threshold, time-limited and structured guidance initiative for caregivers of children aged 0–18 years and was developed by Karsten Hundeide and Henning Rye. The initiative owner in Norway is Bufdir and ICDP Norway. ICDP is implemented in arenas in the families’ local environment and in prison if the caregiver(s) is incarcerated.
Method: This knowledge summary is based on a systematic literature search in the databases Embase, Medline, PsycINFO, Norart, Cochrane, Cristin, Nora, Scopus and Swemed. Five articles based on partly the same sample met the inclusion criteria.
Results: The results include a summary of the description of the intervention, included effect studies, research methodological quality and implementation quality. The ICDP’s objectives, intervention arenas, design and methods are described. A total of six studies were included in this knowledge summary. Overall, there was no effect for most outcome variables that were measured across the included studies. For all positive findings, the effects of the intervention in the studies were consistently small. However, the results of the last study document that the parents’ perceived coping and regulation of the child’s emotions were strengthened after the intervention was implemented. The intervention has good routines for quality assurance of the implementation and a comprehensive strategy for spreading the intervention.
Conclusion: Based on Ungsinn’s criteria, ICDP is classified at evidence level 4 – Measures with satisfactory documentation of effect.