Norwegian Tuning in to Kids: Adaptation, piloting and dissemination of a parenting program assisting children's transition to primary school

The transition to school is a highly stressful and emotionally challenging event for many children and their families. Preschool children who fail to understand and regulate their emotions are more likely to have difficulties during this transition, and are at greater risk for mental health problems. Prevention programs that target parents and assist them to facilitate their children to understand and regulate emotions (emotion competence) have been found to assist in the adjustment to school, promote social and academic competence and prevent mental health difficulties. Tuning in to Kids is an Australian evidence-based parenting program that teaches parents emotion coaching (where parents respond with empathy and help their children to understand and regulate emotions) to assist children develop emotion competence and promote a positive adjustment to starting school. This proposal is to adapt the Tuning in to Kids program for Norway and to conduct a pilot study of the program with a sample of 40 parents of preschool children just prior to their commencement in primary school. In particular the pilot study will examine whether the program has an impact on children's social, emotional, behavioural and educational adjustment. The pilot study will also use cutting edge physiological measures to see whether a parenting program can promote children's emotion regulation and attention control. This study will begin an international research collaboration between University of Oslo researchers Karevold and Espeseth and University of Melbourne visiting research fellow Havighurst. The visiting researcher will also disseminate the program (Norwegian Tuning in to Kids) by providing professional training to those working in the education and child and adolescent mental health sectors. This will enable selected professionals to be certified as program facilitators thereby reaching a much larger number of parents of children starting school.