"Daily Growth" Parenting Program Delivered via Ecological Momentary Intervention: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of a Prototype.

BACKGROUND: Despite evidence showing that parenting interventions reduce rates of child mental health problems, their reach and engagement remain low. Daily Growth is a digital parenting program designed to improve parent and child emotion regulation using an ecological momentary intervention (EMI) approach. Daily Growth sends twice-daily prompts and delivers 3-minute videos tailored to a recent parenting situation, offering 2 program types (Emotion Coaching and Active Play) to meet different parent preferences. EMI has rarely been tested with parenting programs. OBJECTIVE: This pilot aimed to assess the feasibility and acceptability of the EMI design and a prototype of Daily Growth, offering the 2 programs via 10 of 60 planned videos. METHODS: A pilot randomized controlled trial recruited 189 Australian parents of children aged 2-4 years, randomized to either intervention (n=94) or active control (n=95). Participants completed a 25-minute online survey at baseline and at conclusion of the program period. In the intervening 2 weeks, participants received twice-daily 1-minute pre-EMI surveys via email. Participants who reported any parent or child negative affect or emotion dysregulation received a resource. Participants in the intervention condition were randomized in the moment to receive a 3-minute Emotion Coaching or Active Play video, while participants in the control condition received a link to a parenting website. Participants were sent a 1-minute post-EMI survey. For both conditions, parenting support was tailored to 1 of 5 predefined parenting situations. RESULTS: Overall, 71% (135/189) of participants completed the 2-week post survey, and over two-thirds completed at least half of the daily pre-EMI surveys. Despite technical issues, most participants would recommend Daily Growth to other parents (53/67, 79%), use the skills learned (46/67, 69%), reported it as easy to use (45/67, 67%), and were satisfied with Daily Growth (40/67, 60%). CONCLUSIONS: This pilot evaluated whether brief EMI resources could engage parents in real time. Findings suggest that the Daily Growth prototype was feasible and well received, supporting further implementation in a larger trial.