Parenting programs in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region: A multilevel meta-analysis

Parenting programs worldwide provide families with essential knowledge and skills to foster positive child development. Meta-analyses on the effectiveness of parenting programs for parent and child outcomes predominantly included families from so-called WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Democratic) countries. Expanding upon existing meta-analyses, the current study focused solely on Middle East/North Africa (MENA) countries through a systematic search of the literature for records that evaluated the effectiveness of parenting programs delivered during early childhood (birth to eight years). A total of 395 effect sizes of parent outcomes and 190 effect sizes of child outcomes were obtained from 29 studies. Using multilevel meta-analytic models, the pooled effects suggested that parenting programs had a positive effect on parent (g = 1.01) and child outcomes (g = 1.43). An examination of publication bias suggested that the effects were robust. Moderator analyses showed trends suggesting that the overall effect may be influenced by program, study, and sample characteristics. Greater improvement of parent outcomes was not associated with greater improvement of child outcomes. Together, parenting programs may be promising support services for parents in MENA countries, with the potential of enhancing parenting and promoting psychosocial health and well-being for parents and children. Further implementation research is needed in MENA countries to increase knowledge about mechanisms and processes underlying effective parenting programs.