Whether young children can develop healthily depends a lot on the family environment where they grow up in. Risk factors, such as low family income or health issues within the family, may pose threats to young children's development. To mitigate the effects of these risk factors, the research team has developed a community parenting program titled "Amazing Start", which aims to improve young children's well-being through the provision of parenting interventions to the families with known risk factors. The parenting interventions include one-to-one coaching on parent-child interactions as well as parent support groups that are led by social workers. This 2-year study aims to investigate the effectiveness and sustainability of the "Amazing Start" community parenting intervention program for at-risk families across three districts in Hong Kong using a randomized controlled trial. Participating families are randomized to either the experimental group, where parenting interventions are provided for a period of 9 months, or the wait-list control group, where no parenting intervention is provided during this 9-month period. Pre-test and post-test are conducted to assess the development of young children, as well as the parental stress, parental sense of competence, and parental satisfaction of the participating families. The wait-list control group receives the parenting intervention after the post-test.

There are strong relations between children's family background and their development. Infants and toddlers growing up in single-parent families, low-income families, and families with members having physical or mental health issues are less likely to meet developmental milestones at appropriate times compared to their peers who grow up in intact, well-off, and healthy families. The lack of parenting knowledge and skills is one of the potential factors that may explain the relation between children's family background and their development. Infants and toddlers growing up in at-risk families may face more stressors, and they may not have the means to acquire relevant parenting knowledge and skills that are important for children's development. Intervention programs that target parenting skills may help mitigate the negative effects of these risk factors on children's development.

Observing this service gap, the research team has developed a parenting program titled "Amazing Start". The program aims to improve infants' and toddlers' development through improving parents' parenting skills and reducing their parental stress. These interventions involve one-to-one coaching on parent-child interactions as well as parent support groups that are led by social workers. The intervention is delivered to those who have 2 or more of the risk factors listed below: (1) single-parent family, (2) ethnic minority, (3) new parents, (4) low-income family, (5) families with newborn twins, (6) persistent family conflicts, and (7) family members suffering from long-term illness.

A randomized controlled trial will be conducted to examine the effectiveness of the intervention. Families who are identified as having at least 2 risk factors will be randomly assigned to one of the two conditions. Families assigned to the experimental condition will receive the intervention for nine months, while families assigned to the wait-list control condition will not receive any services during this period. Pre-test and post-test will be conducted to assess the program's effectiveness in improving parental sense of competence, reducing parental stress, enhancing parents' satisfaction about parenting, as well as promoting infants' and toddlers' development. The wait-list control group will receive the parenting intervention after the post-test.

Inclusion Criteria:

• 1. Families with infants and toddlers aged 0 to 36 months

• 2. Families residing in Kwun Tong, Yuen Long, and Yau Tsim Mong Districts

• 3. Families with at least 2 risk factors listed below

  1. single-parent family,
  2. ethnic minority,
  3. new parents,
  4. low-income family,
  5. families with newborn twins,
  6. persistent family conflicts, and
  7. family members suffering from long-term illness

Exclusion Criteria:

• Families with fewer than 2 risk factors listed above