Effectiveness of a video-feedback intervention based on the SPIRE happiness model for promoting family parenting among preschool migrant children: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION

Preschool migrant children may face multiple family-related developmental risks, including suboptimal parent-child interaction. This pilot randomized controlled trial examined the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary outcomes of a video-feedback intervention (VFI) informed by the SPIRE happiness model among Chinese families with preschool migrant children.

METHODS

A single-blind, parallel-group, pilot randomized controlled trial was conducted. Parents of preschool migrant children were recruited from kindergartens included in the migrant child sample database of Nantong City in September 2025 and were randomly assigned to either an intervention group (n = 14) or a control group (n = 13). The intervention group received a six-week video-feedback intervention, whereas the control group received no intervention. Assessments were conducted at pre-intervention (T1), immediately after the intervention (T2), and at the three-month follow-up (T3). Primary outcomes were feasibility, acceptability, and parent-child interaction behaviors; secondary outcomes were the family parenting environment, parenting sense of competence, perceived social support, and child emotional and behavioral problems.

RESULTS

A total of 27 participants completed the study with 100% retention and intervention attendance rates. Intervention satisfaction was 92.9, and 85.8% of parents were willing to apply the learned strategies and participate in similar interventions. Repeated-measures ANOVA demonstrated that following the intervention, the intervention group scored significantly higher than the control group on parent-child interaction, family parenting environment, parental sense of competence, and perceived social support (p < 0.05), and these improvements could still be observed at the 3-month follow-up. Although the scores of children's emotional and behavioral problems exhibited a certain decreasing trend, the between-group difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05).

DISCUSSION: These findings suggest that the VFI based on the SPIRE happiness model was feasible and acceptable in this sample and was associated with preliminary improvements in improving the quality of parent-child interaction, optimizing the family parenting environment, and enhancing parents' positive psychological resources. Larger, adequately powered trials with longer follow-up periods are needed to evaluate its effectiveness and underlying processes.