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Implementation fidelity is a critical component of intervention science, which aims to understand how interventions unfold in practice to improve outcomes. A key element of fidelity is facilitator competent adherence—the extent to which a program is delivered as prescribed with the specified level of quality. We conducted a two-part systematic review examining these aspects in parenting programs aiming to reduce child behavior problems and maltreatment. Part One reviews measures of facilitator competent adherence and Part Two examines the psychometric properties of the observational measures found. Searches identified 9153 articles from electronic databases, citation tracking, and expert input. After screening using pre-specified criteria, 156 (Part One) and 41 (Part Two) articles remained. In Part One, measure, facilitator, and intervention characteristics were extracted and synthesized from 65 measures. Most measures were observational, used by facilitators and researchers, and employed Likert-scale ratings. In Part Two, evidence on the reliability (internal consistency, inter-rater, intra-rater, test–retest) and validity (content, construct, convergent/divergent, criterion) of 30 observational measures identified from Part One was synthesized and evaluated. An adapted COSMIN checklist was used to assess study and measure quality. We found most studies to be of reasonably high quality. This is the first review to summarize and critically appraise measures of facilitator competent adherence used in the parenting program literature and establish their psychometric properties. The findings underscore the need to advance research on measures of facilitator competent adherence; reliable, valid, and high-quality implementation measures allow for evidence-based decisions regarding the delivery and scale-up of parenting programs. PROSPERO Registration Number: CRD42020167872. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10567-021-00350-8.

This report summarises the study findings and impact of a research project implemented jointly by the Universities of Oxford and Cape Town: Pathways to survival: identifying psychosocial, family and service mechanisms to improve anti-retroviral adherence amongst HIV-positive adolescents in Southern Africa (hereafter: Mzantsi Wakho – Your South Africa – its locally used name). The core source of funding for this high-impact and successful study came from the Nuffield Foundation. This study was also supported by supplementary co-funding. This study was the first to systematically examine potential causes of ART non-adherence and non-retention in HIV care amongst adolescents (10-19 years old) in Sub-Saharan Africa. Through additional funding awarded to the research team, additional research aims were also examined. The research project was implemented by a team of more than 50 researchers, including capacity-building for early-career academics and students in South Africa and the UK. In July 2015 – March 2018, this multi-disciplinary, mixed-methods team engaged with over 1,600 adolescents, 100 caregivers, and 120 healthcare providers through participatory workshops, in-depth interviews, ethnographic research, and three waves of quantitative surveys. In parallel, a clinic team engaged with over 79 public health facilities collecting data from clinic managers, healthcare providers, and patient files (with appropriate consent). With the essential support of the Nuffield Foundation, this study became the world’s largest longitudinal cohort of adolescents living with HIV. Mzantsi Wakho’s research team successfully followed up and maintained high retention rates across three time points, as research participants transitioned from early adolescence into youth. The study has already had major impact on policy, UN guidelines and programming for adolescents living with HIV.

Objective: Parenting programs are the recommended strategy for the prevention and treatment of disruptive child behavior. Similar to most psychosocial interventions, it is unknown which components of parenting programs (i.e., parenting techniques taught) actually contribute to program effects. Identifying what parents need to be taught to reduce disruptive child behavior can optimize intervention strategies, and refine theories on how parenting shapes disruptive child behavior. Method: In two meta-analyses, we updated the evidence-base for effectiveness of parenting programs delivered at various levels of prevention and treatment of disruptive behavior. We searched six databases (e.g., PsycINFO, MEDLINE) for randomized trials and coded the parenting techniques taught in each program. We identified the techniques associated with program effects in general, and for prevention versus treatment, and immediate versus longer-term effects, specifically. Results: Parenting program effects on disruptive behavior gradually increased per level of prevention (universal d=0.27, selective d=0.33, indicated d=0.65) and treatment (d=0.79) (Meta-Analysis 1: 154 trials, 398 effect sizes). Three out of 26 parenting techniques were associated with stronger program effects: positive reinforcement, praise in particular, and natural/logical consequences. Several additional techniques (e.g., relationship building and parental selfmanagement) were associated with stronger effects in treatment, but weaker effects in prevention. No techniques were associated with stronger longer-term effects (Meta-Analysis 2: 42 trials, 157 effect sizes). Conclusion: Positive reinforcement and nonviolent disciplining techniques (e.g., natural/logical consequences) seem key parenting program techniques to reduce disruptive child behavior. Additional techniques (e.g., parental self-management skills) might improve program effects in treatment, but not in prevention.

Adolescent HIV-risk behaviors are increased by family violence, low parental supervision, substance use and poverty. ‘Cash + care’ structural approaches can reduce adolescent HIV-risks, but parenting a teenager is complex and challenging. WHO, UNICEF, USAIDPEPFAR and academics developed and tested a parenting support and violence reduction program for low-resource settings, to be used as part of structural prevention programs.

Strong arguments have been made for early intervention for child problems, stating that early is more effective than later, as the brain is more malleable, and costs are lower. However, there is scant evidence from trials to support this hypothesis, which we therefore tested in two well‐powered, state‐of‐the‐art meta‐analyses with complementary strengths: (a) Individual participant data (IPD) meta‐analysis of European trials of Incredible Years parenting intervention (k = 13, n = 1696; age = 2–11); (b) Larger, trial‐level robust variance estimation meta‐analysis of a wider range of parenting programs (k = 156, n = 13,378, Mage = 2–10) for reducing disruptive behavior. Both analyses found no evidence that intervention earlier in childhood was more effective; programs targeted at a narrower age range were no more effective than general ones.

Child conduct disorders have important long-term public health sequelae, including higher risk of substance use and violence in adolescence and higher risk of mental health problems in adulthood. Parenting interventions informed by social learning theory have been consistently shown to be effective for reducing child disruptive behaviour, but the diversity and variety of interventions prevents a clear understanding of why interventions are differentially effective. Intervention components rarely exist in isolation, and interventions may be best understood in terms of the combinations of components they include rather than any one component. We tested if components of social learning theory-based parenting interventions for child disruptive behaviour outcomes formed underlying groupings across trials, and analysed how these groupings were associated with differential intervention effectiveness.

This study examines the role of paternal emotional support as a resilience promoter in offspring of mothers with depression by considering the role of fathers' mental health and the quality of the couple relationship. Two hundred and sixty-five mothers with recurrent unipolar depression, partners and adolescents from Wales were assessed. Paternal emotional support, couple relationship quality, and paternal depression were assessed at baseline; adolescent mental health symptoms were assessed using the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Assessment at follow-up. Results showed evidence of an indirect pathway whereby couple relationship quality predicted paternal emotional support (β = -.21, 95% CI [-.34, -.08]; p = .002) which in turn predicted adolescent depression (β = -.18, 95% CI [-.33, -.04]; p = .02), but not disruptive behaviours (β = -.08, 95% CI [-.22, .07]; p = .30), after controlling for relevant confounders. The findings highlight that fathers and the broader family system play an important role in enhancing resilience to depression symptoms in at-risk adolescents.

The investigation of treatment effect moderation is a common research objective in psychological studies. The benefit or harm of an intervention might vary within a study according to patient characteristics or between studies due to contextual factors such as the composition of the study population or the study setting. Statistically the investigation of treatment effect moderation amounts to an assessment of interactions between putative moderators and treatment groups. Interaction tests tend to be underpowered when based on individual participant data (IPD) from a single study. Pooling multiple trials aimed at evaluating the same intervention offers a way forward here

Background: Violence against children increases in adolescence, but there is a research and practice gap in evidence-based child abuse prevention for the adolescent years. A pilot programme for low-resource settings was developed in collaboration with NGOs, government and academics in South Africa, using evidence-based principles. Methods: This study used a pre-post design to test initial effects of a 10-session parenting programme with 60 participants (30 caregiver-adolescent dyads) in high-poverty rural South Africa. Areas requiring further testing and adaptation were also identified. Results: Pre-post findings show significant reductions in child abuse, violent discipline, adolescent problem behaviour, poor supervision and acceptance of violence. Improvements were seen in positive and involved parenting, and parent and adolescent social support. Conclusions: There is potential to reduce child abuse, improve parenting, and reduce adolescent problem behaviour in rural South Africa through parenting programmes. Further development is required to improve skills such as non-violent and consistent discipline.

Research in high-income countries has identified an array of risk factors for youth antisocial behavior. However, in low- and middle-income countries, despite higher prevalence of offending and antisocial behavior, there is a paucity of prospective, longitudinal evidence examining predictors. South Africa is a middle-income country with high rates of violence and crime, and a unique social context, characterized by striking income and gender inequality, and increasing number of children orphaned by AIDS. We tested predictors of antisocial behavior at community, family, and individual levels over four years. One thousand and twenty five adolescents from poor, urban South African settlements were assessed in 2005 (50 percent female; M = 13.4 years) and followed up in 2009. The sample analyzed consisted of the 723 youth (71 percent) assessed at both time points. We employed sociodemographic questionnaires and standardized scales. Validity of our antisocial behavior measure was supported by cross-sectional associations with well-evidenced concomitants of youth antisocial behavior, including drug taking and truancy. Regression analysis indicated that male gender and experience of community violence, but not poverty or abuse, predicted antisocial behavior. Despite many South African youth experiencing abuse and poverty at the family level, our findings suggest that high levels of violence in communities may be a more important factor contributing to the development of antisocial behavior, particularly among males.

A life-long friend of Cecil Rhodes, Garner F. Williams (1842–1922) was the first general manager of the De Beers Consolidated Mines, which once produced 95% of the diamond yield of the world. First published in 1902, this work opens with a chapter on notable historical diamonds, and goes on to describe the initial discovery of diamonds in South Africa, the development of mines, the mining methods adopted, the welfare of the miners and a history of the whole diamond-producing region. Williams also includes an appendix, which describes the mechanical workings of winding engines and pumps, and the value of different types of coals, and provides a table listing the yearly yield of the mines since 1888. Nearly 700 pages long, The Diamond Mines of South Africa contains over 500 illustrations and maps.

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