About Us
Partners in Parenting (PiP) aims to bridge the gap between complex research evidence and practical resources for parents.
We know that parents play an important role in protecting their child’s mental wellbeing. However, despite extensive research supporting the role parents can play in reducing their child’s risk of mental health problems, until recently this information was not easily accessible to parents.
PiP brings together decades of high-quality research evidence and the consensus of international experts on parenting and child and youth mental health. Parents can access this information via interactive, online programs, designed to build skills and confidence in ways that may protect their child from depression and anxiety disorders.
To date, we’ve conducted multiple research trials with over 4000 Australian parents. Our results show that PiP is effective, with benefits for both parents and children.
Reaching beyond Australia: PiP Malaysia
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it many new challenges for parents and families. To better support parents through this time, we’ve enhanced PiP by adding:
- New expert-endorsed content about parenting during the pandemic
- Access to an online peer support group, for PiP parents to connect with and support each other. The group is facilitated and moderated by members of the PiP team.
If you’d like to read more about the research behind PiP, click here for a summary of published papers, or get in touch with us at marie.yap@monash.edu.
The people behind PiP
We are a team of researchers at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. We are passionate about supporting parents and improving the mental wellbeing of young people.
Our latest program, PiP Malaysia, is made possible through a partnership between the Parenting and Youth Mental Health Group, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, and Action Lab, Faculty of Information Technology. Together, we have redesigned PiP to improve parents’ experience and support while completing PiP.
Prof Marie Yap
Marie is a Professor, Psychologist, and Head of the Parenting and Youth Mental Health Research Group at Monash University. Marie is the founder and lead researcher of the Partners in Parenting program and has been recognised as a leading international expert in family relationships.
Dr Mairead Cardamone-Breen
Mairead is a Psychologist and Research Fellow in the Parenting and Youth Mental Health Research Group at Monash University. Mairead has been instrumental in the development and evaluation of the Partners in Parenting program.
Action Lab
Action Lab is a multidisciplinary team of impact-focused researchers in the department of Human-Centred Computing at Monash University, Australia. They recently joined the PiP team to co-design the most recent versions of PiP, with the latest technology and their domain expertise in computer science, human-centred design methods, interaction design and digital mental health.
The Action Lab project team is led by Professor Patrick Olivier and includes a highly energetic and creative team of researchers and research engineers: Dr Tom Bartindale, Dr Jue (Grace) Xie, Dr Roisin McNaney, Joshua Seguin, Harrison Marshall and Dr Ling Wu.
Other PiP Malaysia Investigators
The PiP Malaysia program and research project are part of a collaboration involving: Darlene Koh (Monash University, Australia); Professor Liz Jones (University of Melbourne); Dr Sharuna Verghis (Monash University Malaysia); and Emeritus Professor Tony Jorm (University of Melbourne).
Acknowledgements
The Partners in Parenting program is part of a suite of parenting resources from the Parenting Strategies Program, which was first established in 2010. Throughout its 14-year history, the program has had many contributors and funders, whom we cannot all acknowledge by name here. Nonetheless, special thanks go to the following contributors to the Partners in Parenting program: Professor Emeritus Tony Jorm (University of Melbourne), Associate Professor Katherine Lawrence (Monash University), Distinguished Professor Ron Rapee (Macquarie University), Maddy Fernando, Grace Aldridge and all the staff, students, and volunteers of the Parenting and Youth Mental Health Group from 2016 to 2024. We thank Monica Lam (Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne) and Professor Katrina Williams (Monash Health & Monash University) for their contributions to the PiP Kids Autism program.
We also thank the parents and young people who have contributed feedback throughout the different stages of the PiP journey.
We acknowledge with thanks the funding which have supported the development and evaluation of the program from 2011-2024, including: National Health and Medical Research Council (APP IDs 2005621, 566652, 1061744, 400001), Medical Research Future Fund (GNT2005621, MRF2006438) Australian Rotary Health, Monash University, and Helen Macpherson Smith Trust.