Parenting program to prevent child violence evaluated in new thesis
How successful are social services in preventing violence against children? Thanks to Livia van Leuven, there is now research-based support for Safer Kids (known in Swedish as Tryggare barn) – one of the programmes currently used by many Swedish municipalities.
Text: Anders Nilsson, first published in Medicinsk Vetenskap nr 4 2025
More than one in ten Swedish secondary school students report having been subjected to physical violence by a parent. When there are concerns that a child is at risk, social services carry out an investigation and decide on any necessary interventions – but until now, little has been known about how effective these interventions actually are.
In her doctoral thesis, Livia van Leuven has studied the effects of the parenting support programme Safer Kids, which in recent years has been adopted by many Swedish municipalities. Developed by the City of Stockholm, the programme focuses on general strategies to reduce conflict and strengthen the parent–child relationship.
“This is the first time a randomised controlled trial has been conducted in Sweden on an intervention aimed at preventing parental violence against children following a report to social services,” she explains.
Her thesis, which includes a total of 179 families across the country, compares Safer Kids with the interventions that each local social service department would otherwise have provided to support families. In some respects, the results were similar; in others, Safer Kids proved more effective. The differences were most apparent in the follow-ups after 18 and 30 months.
“There were fewer new reports to social services concerning child welfare issues among families who had taken part in Safer Kids, and improvements in children’s wellbeing seemed to last longer in that group.”
Another encouraging outcomewas the high level of participation in Safer Kids. It is otherwise common for families to decline support offered by social services. Both parents and practitioners reported that they found the programme helpful.
A more stringent Social Services Act, introduced on 1 July this year, places clearer demands on Swedish municipalities to ensure that interventions are evidence-based. Livia van Leuven hopes the new law will encourage more research in this area, as as major knowledge gaps remain.
Thesis
Safer Kids Can’t Wait: Evaluating a Parenting Program to Prevent Child Abuse