Scientific research

The effectiveness of the intervention has been examined extensively among different groups of caregivers and children in both the Netherlands and abroad. Among these groups were children in high-risk situations, parents in high-risk situations/extraordinary circumstances and caregivers in childcare. The effectiveness of the VIPP-SD on enhancing parental sensitive behaviour has been demonstrated through 12 Randomized Controlled Trials in different countries and among different target groups.

In most of these studies the VIPP-SD was implemented, with the intervention sometimes being adjusted for the specific target group. In some cases the intervention was performed without the Sensitive Discipline component. A meta-analysis on 12 of these studies, with a total of 1116 caretakes, showed a significant increase in parental sensitivity. In addition, a positive effect was found on the quality of the attachment relationship and a decrease of children’s problem behaviour (Juffer et al., 2017a). The VIPP-SD has been registered in the Effective Youth Interventions Database of the Netherlands Youth Institute (Dutch: Nederlands Jeugdinstituut) and strong evidence has led to the recognition of the intervention as 'demonstrably effective'. This qualification is the highest achievable qualification an intervention can receive.

Continued development of the intervention

In recent years, several new studies into effectiveness of the VIPP/VIPP-SD have been completed and set up in the Netherlands and other countries. This mainly concerns research into implementing the VIPP/VIPP-SD with a specific target group, like modules for foster care (VIPP-FC), parents with mild learning disabilities (VIPP-LD) and children with a visual impairment (VIPP-V). Where originally only mothers were involved in these studies, research is now also being conducted into the effectiveness of the intervention with fathers and couples. In addition, it is being investigated whether the VIPP/VIPP-SD can also be used with children older than 6 (research into families with twins) and younger than 6 months (research into the start of babies in childcare and the introduction of solid food). Finally, attention is increasingly being paid to whether the intervention is equally effective to all children and parents or whether there is some kind of differential susceptibility.

For more information, see the overview of scientific publications about the VIPP ››