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Tuning in to Kids® for parents of preschool-aged children in Portugal: study protocol for a randomized controlled
Stephanie Alves1, Margarida Faria2, Tiago Miguel Pinto2
1HEI-Lab: Digital Human-Environment Interaction Labs, Lusófona University, Lisbon, Portugal. stephanie.alves@ulusofona.pt.
Insights
This study evaluates the Tuning in to Kids® program for parents in Portugal, aiming to improve childhood mental health through enhanced emotion socialization and parenting skills. Findings are expected to support the program
Area of Science:
- Childhood Mental Health
- Parenting Programs
- Emotion Socialization
Background:
- Childhood mental health problems are a significant public health concern with lasting adverse effects.
- Ineffective parental emotion socialization is linked to the development of childhood mental health issues.
- Emotion-focused parenting programs like Tuning in to Kids® (TIK) show promise in improving parental emotion coaching and children's emotional regulation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To conduct a process and efficacy evaluation of the Tuning in to Kids® (TIK) program for parents of preschool-aged children in Portugal.
- To assess the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of TIK in improving parental emotion socialization and psychological functioning for parents and children.
Main Methods:
- A parallel two-arm randomized clinical trial involving at least 152 parents/legal guardians of children aged 3-6 years.
- Random assignment to either the intervention group or a waiting list control group.
- Self-report questionnaires administered at baseline, post-intervention, and 2-month follow-up to assess parental emotion socialization and parent/child functioning; longitudinal data analyzed using linear mixed-effects models.
Main Results:
- Anticipated improvements in parental emotion socialization, including adjusted parental beliefs and reactions to children's emotions.
- Expected enhancements in emotion regulation skills for children.
- Anticipated reductions in parenting stress and children's emotional/behavioral difficulties.
Conclusions:
- The Portuguese version of Tuning in to Kids® is expected to be feasible, acceptable, and effective.
- The program is anticipated to improve parent emotion socialization and psychological functioning for both parents and children.
- Positive findings would support the broader implementation of TIK for promoting mental health in families in Southern Europe.
Background:
Childhood mental health (MH) problems are a major public health concern due to their high prevalence and well-documented adverse consequences, and are often under-recognized and untreated. Less effective parental emotion socialization practices play a critical role in the emergence of childhood MH problems, influencing children's socioemotional development. Emotion-focused parenting programs, such as Tuning in to Kids® (TIK), could be a promising approach to promote parents' emotion coaching skills, enabling children to understand and regulate their emotions more effectively, while also supporting parents in managing their own emotions. Prior evidence supports TIK's efficacy in improving children's and parents' MH outcomes across several countries; however, TIK's efficacy has not yet been explored in Southern Europe. This study aims to provide a process and efficacy evaluation of TIK for parents of preschool-aged children in Portugal.
Methods:
This trial is a parallel two-arm randomized clinical trial, which includes both process (i.e., feasibility and acceptability) and efficacy evaluation (i.e., change in primary and secondary outcomes and moderated effects) of Tuning in to Kids® in Portugal. A minimum of 152 parents/legal guardians (> 18 years old) with at least one child between 3 and 6 years old will be enrolled. Parents will be randomly assigned to the intervention group or waiting list control group (76 per condition), through blocked randomization, with allocation concealment. Participants in both conditions will complete self-report questionnaires assessing primary (parental emotion socialization) and secondary (parents and children functioning dimensions) outcomes at baseline, post-intervention, and follow-up (2 months post-intervention). Longitudinal data will be analyzed using linear mixed-effects models accounting for repeated measures within participants.
Discussion:
We anticipate that the Portuguese version of Tuning in to Kids® will be feasible, acceptable and effective in improving parent emotion socialization (e.g., more adjusted parents' beliefs and reactions to children's emotions and emotion regulation skills), and parents' and children's psychological functioning (e.g., less parenting stress and reduced children's emotional/behavioral difficulties). If achieved, these findings will support TIK's use in promoting MH among families.
Trial Registration:
The clinical trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT07350083, date assigned January 13, 2026).
