Effectiveness of Early Prevention Programs in Germany: A Systematic Review and a Meta-Analysis

The number of scientific evaluations of early preventions programs has considerably increased since the foundation of the national center of early prevention in Germany. Early primary and secondary intervention programs are designed to address parents with little children (prenatal until three years) to improve the parent-child-relationship and parental educational competencies. This is thought to enhance child development and to avoid maltreatment in terms of neglect and abuse. During a systematic review, six data-bases were searched for publications on studies about the effectiveness of early prevention programs in Germany between 2003 and 2013. Eight studies were found to fulfill inclusion criteria and were included in a meta-analysis. In comparison to the control groups the early prevention programs had a small effect on maternal symptom burden (d = 0.28), however there was no effect on maternal competences (d = 0.10) and perceived social support (d = -0.06). In addition, there was no effect on psychic child development (d = 0.05) but no effect on the physical development of the children (d = 0.00). Results are discussed as preliminary due to a current lack of a sufficient amount of studies in Germany.