A new study from McMaster University, in collaboration with community partners and researchers from Duke University, Oxford University, and Mahidol University, shows that screenings of a locally-produced narrative film about parenting led to a significant reduction in physical violence against children.

The research, published on Jan. 16, 2025 in The Lancet Regional Health - Southeast Asia, aimed to promote positive parenting among families who have migrated or been displaced from Myanmar into Thailand. These families face extreme poverty and daily adversity, which can negatively impact parent-child relationships and family well-being.

"Parenting support is quite limited in this setting because of lack of funding and capacity," says Amanda Sim, lead author of the study and assistant professor with McMaster’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences and Mary Heersink Program in Global Health.
“The innovative solution we came up with and tested in this study was to use entertainment education, embedding educational content about positive parenting into a film."

Researchers partnered with the Sermpanya Foundation, a grassroots organization in Thailand that works with refugees and migrants, to create a 66-minute narrative drama film about parenting. The film was entirely created with and by refugees and migrants from the Thailand-Myanmar border, ensuring authenticity through community involvement.

"The fact that local community members were the ones who co-created this film gives an authenticity that I think really resonates. When people watch the film, they can really identify with the situations and struggles that are shown. That makes it so much more powerful," says Sim, who is also a core member of the Offord Centre for Child Studies.

Reduction in violence against children

The study involved more than 2,000 caregivers from 44 communities who were randomly assigned to either watch the film or receive information about local health and social services. Those who watched the film showed a nine per cent reduction in the use of physical violence against children and an increase in positive parenting practices, family functioning, and social support.

“The fact that families can use the examples that they're seeing in the film and connect that to their everyday life has really promoted behavioural change and enabled the parents to learn from the film and use those skills with their own children,” Sim says.

These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of using media and entertainment education to deliver parenting support in challenging contexts.

Researchers are now digging deeper into the data to learn more about what resonated with viewers and how this type of intervention can be scaled up to reach more families in this and other settings. The study is also testing the impact of a five-week program that builds on the film to improve caregiver mental health and parenting practices. The goal is to increase access to multi-layered interventions that provide different levels of support based on need.

The study is part of the Global Parenting Initiative, which receives funding through The LEGO Foundation, the Oak Foundation, the World Childhood Foundation, The Human Safety Net, and the UK Research and Innovation Global Challenges Research Fund. The LEGO Foundation also donated LEGO bricks to promote playful learning in schools and learning centres on the Thailand-Myanmar border.

Interested in covering the study? Amanda Sim, lead author of the study and assistant professor with McMaster’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, can be reached directly at siml3@mcmaster.ca.

For any other assistance, contact Adam Ward, media relations officer with McMaster University’s Faculty of Health Sciences, at warda17@mcmaster.ca.