Differences in the effectiveness of the Treatment Programme for Families with Children in Andalusia according to family profile

The Treatment Programme for Families with Children (TPFC) is a secondary prevention service of the Public System of Social Services of Andalusia that provides care for families at psychological risk in this large region of Southern Spain. Given the existence of homes in which the needs of children are not adequately met, the TPFC is fundamentally aimed at promoting parental competencies and supporting families in satisfying the needs of their children and ensuring their wellbeing. The aims of this study were to identify and characterize the different profiles of families participating in the TPFC, and to analyse the role of family profiles in the effectiveness of the intervention. The sample consisted of 404 families that participated in the TPFC. The families were interviewed after their incorporation to the programme, with the aim of gathering information about the functioning and quality of the family context, educational practices, sense of parental competence, parental stress, and global health of parents. The results obtained through a cluster analysis showed the existence of three different types of families among the participants in the TPFC. Moreover, the data provided evidence of the interacting role of these profiles in the effectiveness of the intervention. These findings reveal that the TPFC is not equally effective for all families. This article discusses the practical implications of these results and highlights the need to diversify the interventions in order to adjust them to the different needs presented by families at risk and to achieve more effective outcomes.