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18 September 2014

Triple P hits the headlines in Japan

Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun — said to have the largest readership in the world with a daily circulation of more than 13 million — has covered Professor Matt Sanders’ recent address to the Japanese Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect.

The Yomiuri Shimbun article suggests that the Triple P — Positive Parenting Program® may be finding high-level support in Japan, quoting the Governor of Wakayama Prefecture, Yoshinobu Nisaka, as saying that he would like to actively implement Triple P.

Governor Nisaka met with Professor Sanders during the Triple P founder’s Japanese visit, which focussed on the importance of governments taking a public health approach in order to prevent child maltreatment.

 

A growing body of research indicates that Triple P is highly effective in Japan:

  • Triple P was introduced to Japan by a pilot study (Matsumoto, 2007) followed by an efficacy trial (Matsumoto, 2010) which provided support for the effectiveness and cultural acceptability of Triple P in Japanese society.

  • In 2011, Fujiwara et al demonstrated the effectiveness of Group Triple P in reducing conduct problems and hyperactivity.

  • The latest independent study, published in the Journal of Psychological Abnormalities in Children, provides promising evidence that Group Triple P is effective for Japanese families raising preschool and school-aged children with developmental disabilities. Conducted by an interdisciplinary group from the University of Tsukuba, the Tsukuba International University and the Ibaraki Disabled Children’s Hospital, the study looked at the effects of Group Triple P on 55 participating families, and found significant intervention effects on emotional symptoms, conduct problems and difficult behavior.

    Parents also recorded significant improvement in levels of depression, anxiety and stress, and reported greater teamwork and support for each other. Despite limitations of the research, the study authors recommended that Group Triple P be widely deployed in Japan “as an effective improvement and relief program’’ for families raising preschool or school-aged children with developmental disabilities.