The Effectiveness of E-Parenting on Resilience and Feeding Behaviors in Hong Kong: A Randomized Pilot Study

Few research studies examine the effectiveness of internet-based parenting programs targeting parents of pre-school aged children among socio-economically diverse populations in urban Asian settings. Methods: This study used a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the effectiveness of an 80-session e-parenting program in Hong Kong, designed to reduce disparities in child development associated with poverty (Clinical Trials ID: CT04512352). Among 233 parent-child dyads randomized into treatment and waitlist-control groups and enrolled, 194 dyads participated in endline assessments conducted at 10 months. Child outcomes were measured by Bayley-III, and parental outcomes included parenting sense of competence, feeding styles, resilience, and perceived social support. Results: Linear mixed effects models demonstrated significant interaction effects between group and time for promoting and encouraging of feeding styles (β = -2.050, 95 CI% [-3.47, -0.63], p<0.01) and parental resilience (β = -1.738, 95 CI% [-3.41, -0.07], p<0.05). Although there were significant improvements in children’s cognition (p<0.001), receptive communication (p<0.001) and fine motor Bayley-III scores (p<0.001) from baseline to endline, no significant intervention or interaction effects were found for child developmental domains. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that e-parenting improved feeding behaviors and resilience. Future studies should investigate heterogeneity effects across socio-economic status and consider alternative designs to increase parents’ participation.