Elsevier

Current Opinion in Psychology

Volume 15, June 2017, Pages 168-173
Current Opinion in Psychology

Social-learning parenting intervention research in the era of translational neuroscience

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.02.017Get rights and content

Highlights

  • •

    Social learning research is incorporating methods from implementation science.

  • •

    Social learning research shows confluence with other theoretical perspectives.

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    Social learning research is being impacted by translational neuroscience.

In the decades since social learning parenting interventions emerged, many evidence-based programs have been implemented at scale in community settings, and much research is now focusing on ways to maintain fidelity and impact during the implementation process. Notably, a considerable amount of theoretical confluence has occurred in parenting interventions from social learning, attachment, and other theoretical perspectives, with parent coaching as an example of this new generation of relational interventions. In addition, research examining the neurobiological effects of early adverse experiences is providing insight into key mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying the effectiveness of social learning parenting interventions, and new strategies for tailoring interventions to the needs of specific populations are being developed, making interventions more efficient, precise, and effective.

Section snippets

Current state of the field

In the past decade empirical research on social learning parenting interventions and related topics has grown substantially. In the ensuing years, many social learning interventions were widely implemented at scales that include cities, states, and entire countries [14]. In some instances these implementations at scale have been paired with rigorous evaluations designed to replicate the original randomized clinical trials. In many instances, the RCTs of large scale implementations have yielded

Confluence of social learning and attachment theory and novel intervention strategies

One relatively recent development in the social learning parenting intervention field is its confluence with interventions that have evolved from different theoretical perspectives. Historically, for example, social learning theory and attachment theory were often deemed to be as incompatible as the behaviorist and psychodynamic intellectual traditions from which they emerged [19]. However, in the past decade the compatibility of these different perspectives has been widely discussed. For

Contributions from translational neuroscience

Social learning parenting interventions were among the first to incorporate neurobiological measures into the assessment protocols of randomized clinical trials. The early studies in this area provided evidence that effects of early adversity on the neuroendocrine stress-regulatory system, specifically the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, could be mitigated via family-based interventions [29••]. Notably, attachment-based intervention studies conducted at the same time showed similar

Conclusions

For the knowledge base in this area to continue to evolve, new interventions that are being developed should be paired with methodologies for evaluating their effectiveness that are more flexible than those of traditional randomized clinical trials. Adaptive evaluation designs [46], which have existed for decades in medicine and engineering, but are only just beginning to be employed in parenting intervention research, show considerable promise. Although not without limitations, adaptive

References and recommended reading

Papers of particular interest, published within the period of review, have been highlighted as:

  • • of special interest

  • •• of outstanding interest

Conflict of interest statement

The authors whose names are listed certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest (such as honoraria; educational grants; participation in speakers’ bureaus; membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest; and expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements), or non-financial interest (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs) in the subject matter

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (grant numbers DA035763 to the first author and DA036533 to the second author), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (grant number HD075716 to the first author), and Harvard Center on the Developing Child (Hemera Frontiers of Innovation initiative, funding granted to the first author).

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