Non-violent resistance as an intervention for parents of children who present with violent and controlling behaviour: A review of empirical evidence

Parenting interventions have been shown to be successful in supporting parents to address children's challenging behaviour. This systematic literature review explores the effectiveness of Non-Violent Resistance (NVR), a specific parenting intervention which aims to help parents cope with children's violent and controlling behaviour. It is a systemic and relational approach where the emphasis is on de-escalating and invigorating the parent-child relationship. A systematic search was undertaken to identify papers exploring the intervention's effectiveness, and eight papers were identified for review. The studies were assessed using a checklist for the appraisal of group intervention designs and weight of evidence framework. The findings from the review suggest that NVR may hold promise as an intervention in reducing parental stress, escalatory interactions, helplessness, and increase parental support. The outcomes for children were more varied. Although five of the eight studies were randomised controlled trials (RCTs), only two utilised an active control group with treatment as usual (TAU). More research is needed to establish NVR's effectiveness, particularly for improving child outcomes and also to compare NVR's effectiveness to that of other parenting interventions. Further insight into the parental experience of NVR could be gained with qualitative research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)