Effects are evaluated using a hypothetical-deductive approach and a quantitative research design of the quasi-experimental type, to obtain data on child security and development, and on parental practices.

Six research hypotheses are tested in this component:

Anticipated proximal differential effects:

• H1: Parents who participated in the AIDES initiative (compared to parents who received conventional intervention) noticed improvements in collaboration with the principal caseworker, the latter’s support practices, and parental control over decisions.

Anticipated intermediary differential effects:

• H2: Improvements in the personal situations of the parents (parental adjustment, parenting) and the family environment are observed at the end of the AIDES intervention compared to improvements observed among parents exposed to conventional intervention.

Anticipated final differential effects:

• H3: Improvements in the personal situations of the children (emotional, behavioural, cognitive, and language development, victimization), particularly with respect to externalized problems, are observed at the end of the AIDES intervention, compared to outcomes observed among children exposed to conventional intervention.

Mediating effects linked to parents and children:

• H4: The relation between the two groups of children (AIDES vs. conventional intervention) and their personal situations in post-test are mediated by the quality of parenting in post-test. The effects of the AIDES initiative on children will thus significantly depend on improvements in parenting brought about by the initiative.

• H5: The relation between family psychosocial risk level (accumulation of risk factors) in the pre-test and externalized problems in the post-test will be mediated by 1) parental perception of support practices, parental control over decisions, and collaboration with the principal caseworker during needs assessment, action planning, and action plan reviews, and 2) the quality of family environment and parenting in post-test.

Moderating effects linked to children and families:

• H6: The intermediary and final effects brought about by the AIDES initiative are moderated by characteristics of the children (age, sex) and family situation (structure and size of family, condition of social support network, type and duration of problem(s), other risk factors).