The 1-2-3 Magic Program: implementation outcomes of an Australian pilot evaluation with school-aged children

This study served as a pilot evaluation of the efficacy of the 1-2-3 Magic Program (Phelan, 2003) as a brief parenting intervention for families with a school-aged child. Nine Australian families assigned to either a wait-listed control group (n = 4) or to one that received immediate intervention (n = 5), participated in a randomized controlled trial. At follow-up assessment, only families who had received training reported significant improvement in child behavior and levels of confidence in parenting ability. As such, the current data provide preliminary support for the short-term efficacy of the 1-2-3 Magic Program as a brief intervention for families of children aged 6–12 years.