Intervention(s)
Together with experts from the Workers’ Welfare Organization (AWO), one of the largest welfare organizations in Germany and active in the area of childcare provision and family services, we developed a digital parenting program consisting of a series of short (1 minute), non-verbal, gender/race neutral, and fun to watch animated video clips on how to become a responsive parent. Each video clip refers to a daily challenge that parents can relate to and provides hands-on, easy to implement tips how to defuse such situations and how to make parenting easier and more enjoyable. The overall program consists of three modules based on the key capacities required for responsive parenting: i) effective communication, ii) perspective taking, and iii) granting autonomy (Baumrind, 1991, Fisher et al. 2016). It is scheduled to last nine weeks, three weeks for each module. There are six tutorial video clips, two for each key capacity. During the first two weeks of each module parents will receive facts and tips regarding the respective capacity. Following York et al. (2018), on Mondays parents will receive the tutorial video, on Wednesdays they will be encouraged to engage in an activity designed to practice the tips given in the video, and on Fridays they will receive a motivational message to continue with the activity. There will be a one-week break between each module to reflect and practice the advice.