Changing chaos

This study tests whether decreased chaos results in increased parenting quality and decreased child maltreatment in parents. The moderating role of sensory sensitivity and mediating role of self-regulation, negative emotions and stress will be investigated. High-risk parents will be randomized to receive an intervention aimed at decreasing chaos (intervention group) or a dummy intervention focusing on child development (control group). The intervention consists of four bi-weekly coaching sessions for the parent with phone calls in the weeks in between, aimed at increasing order in the household (noise, material, organizational) and a booster session via telephone. In addition, participants will receive text messages and cards with reminders and tips.

Participants in the intervention group will show a larger decline in household chaos than participants in the control group. As a result parenting quality in the intervention group will improve more than in the control group.

Secondary hypotheses:
- The effect of household chaos on parenting and maltreatment is specifically found in
respondents with high sensory sensitivity.
- The effect of household chaos on parenting and maltreatment is mediated by self-regulation,
negative emotions, and stress. The interrelations between these mediating factors will be tested
exploratively.
- The effect of household chaos on maltreatment is moderated by maltreatment risk.

- pretest one week before start of the intervention

- posttest one week after completion of the intervention

The household order intervention consists of four bi-weekly coaching sessions for the
parent with phone calls in the weeks in between, aimed at increasing order in the household (noise, material, organizational;

based on Haines et al., 2013). The coaching sessions, in which motivational interviewing is used, target the following topics: 1. General introduction, 2. Family routines and weekly schedule; 3. Organizing materials in the home; 4. Reducing noise. After the general introduction, the sequence of the topics will be tailored to the parent's situation. Parents will also receive text messages with reminders three times a week during the four intervention weeks and will be provided with cards with reminders to be displayed at central places in the house. At the end, a booster session will be provided via telephone/Skype.



The control group will receive seven weekly phone calls. In these phone calls, the intervenor will talk about child development in general. Household order/chaos is explicitly not discussed. In addition,
parents will get cell phone messages three times a week with information about the development of children.