The Zurich Project on the Social Development of Children and Youth

ISRCTN	ISRCTN84472990
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN84472990
Protocol serial number	N/A
Sponsor	Swiss National Science Foundation (Switzerland)
Funders	Swiss National Science Foundation (Switzerland), Jacobs Foundation (Switzerland), Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (Switzerland), Ministry of Education of the Canton of Zurich (Switzerland), Swiss Federal Commission for Migration Issues (Switzerland), Julius Baer Foundation (Switzerland)

Submission date: 15/09/2010
Registration date: 07/10/2010
Last edited: 04/10/2011

Recruitment status: No longer recruiting
Overall study status: Completed
Condition category: Mental and Behavioural Disorders

Prospectively registered

Protocol

Statistical analysis plan

Results

Individual participant data

Plain English summary of protocol

Not provided at time of registration

Contact information

Prof Manuel P Eisner
Scientific

Institute of Criminology
University of Cambridge
Cambridge
CB3 9DT
United Kingdom

Phone	+44 (0)1223 33 53 74
Email	mpe23@cam.ac.uk

Study information

Primary study design	Interventional
Study design	Single location stratified cluster randomised trial with a 2x2 factorial design (embedded in a prospective longitudinal study)
Secondary study design	Randomised controlled trial
Study type	Participant information sheet
Scientific title	The Zurich Project on the Social Development of Children and Youth: A Combined Cluster-Randomised Controlled Trial to Evaluate the Short- and Long-Term Effectiveness of the PATHS School-Based Prevention Programme and of the Triple P Parent Training Programme
Study acronym	z-proso
Study objectives	1. PATHS/PFADe 1.1. Children who were taught the adapted German version of the Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies training (PATHS/PFADe) during regular school lessons will show an improved development regarding externalising problem behaviour, and social competence as compared to the control group. 1.2. Children who were taught PATHS/PFADe in high quality and intensity will show a better improvement than those who were taught PATHS/PFADe in medium or low quality/intensity 2. Standard Triple P parenting programme 2.1. Children whose parents were taught the Standard Triple P parenting programme will show an improved development regarding externalising problem behaviour as compared to the control group. 2.2. Parents who were taught the Standard Triple P parenting programme will show improved parenting skills as compared to the control group. 3. Combined condition Children in the combined condition (PATHS & Triple P) will show the highest improvement compared to those in the "PATHS only" and in the "Triple P only" conditions.
Ethics approval(s)	Minimally intrusive intervention, therefore ethical approval not required by the Swiss National Science Foundation nor by University of Zurich. Parental consent was obtained and all data stored according to data protection regulations.
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied	Externalising problem behaviour, delinquency, social skills, parenting skills
Intervention	1. German adaptation of the "Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies" Programme (PATHS) called "Programm zur Förderung Alternativer Denkstrategien" (PFADe). PATHS/PFADe is a classroom-based curriculum aimed at improving social skills in children. The intervention was delivered during grade 2 (at age 8 to 9) typically in three weekly units of 20 minutes in all classes that were allocated to the corresponding treatment condition. More information on the PATHS/PFADe is available at: - http://www.pfade.ch/ and - http://www.prevention.psu.edu/projects/PATHS.html 2. German, Portuguese, Turkish, English, and Albanian version of the "Standard Triple P" parent training. The intervention was made available to all parents in the corresponding treatment condition and consisted of 4 training units (approx. 2.5 hours) in classes of approx. 5 to 15 participants using audio-visual materials and followed by voluntary telephone counselling. The training was delivered at the end of grade 1. More information on the programme is available at: http://www.triplep.net/
Intervention type	Other
Primary outcome measure(s)	Social Behaviour Questionnaire (SBQ) developed by R. Tremblay et al. The instrument was administered CAPI parent interviews, in paper-and-pencil teacher questionnaires as well as in an adapted audio-visual self-administered computer-aided child version. It aims at measuring various forms of aggression (physical, reactive, proactive, indirect) as well as ODD, non-aggressive externalising problem behaviour, ADHD, internalising problem behaviour, and prosociality.
Key secondary outcome measure(s)	1. PATHS assessed by Social Problem Solving vignettes developed by Dodge et al. 2. Triple P assessed by the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (APQ) developed by Shelton et al. The instrument was administered in CAPI parent interviews. It aims at measuring five core dimensions of parenting behavious, i.e. positive parenting, parental commitment, monitoring, physical punishment, inconsistent discipline.
Completion date	31/10/2013

Eligibility

Participant type(s)	Patient
Age group	Other
Sex	All
Target sample size at registration	1675
Key inclusion criteria	All children who entered public primary school in the city of Zurich in summer 2004 (either sex) as well as their parents and teachers
Key exclusion criteria	All other children
Date of first enrolment	15/08/2004
Date of final enrolment	31/10/2013

Locations

Countries of recruitment

United Kingdom
England
Switzerland

Study participating centre

Institute of Criminology

Cambridge
CB3 9DT
United Kingdom

Results and Publications

Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share	No
IPD sharing plan summary
IPD sharing plan

Study outputs

Output type	Details	Date created	Date added	Peer reviewed?	Patient-facing?
Book results		01/01/2007		No	No
Other publications				Yes	No
Participant information sheet	Participant information sheet	11/11/2025	11/11/2025	No	Yes
Study website	Study website	11/11/2025	11/11/2025	No	Yes