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Practitioners are recognized as one of the key components that make parenting interventions meaningful and helpful to families, and the impact of practitioners' skills on the outcomes of parenting interventions has been consistently recognized in research. However, the mechanisms and ongoing processes through which the practitioners' actions and skills may impact parental engagement and other outcomes remain unknown. This qualitative study explored parents' perceptions about the processes through which specific practitioners' skills contribute to the outcomes of the Incredible Years Basic Parent Program (IYPP). Twenty‐four Portuguese parents who had completed the IYPP were interviewed in four focus groups, and the data were analyzed through thematic analysis. Practitioners' skills were perceived by parents as having an impact on their engagement in the program, their process of change, and their interpersonal relationships. Practitioners were perceived to demonstrate their influence in the intervention process through six different roles: the roles of a confidant, a positive coach, a partner, a maestro, a tailor, and a congruent person. This study reinforces the prominent role of practitioners in enabling parental outcomes of an evidence‐based parenting program and suggests that more attention should be paid to continuing supervision and other professional development processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Practitioners' characteristics and actions influence the implementation of evidence-based programs, but little is known about the practitioner's role in the implementation of parent-based programs. The present qualitative study is the first to explore the perceptions of parents and professionals regarding the practitioners' characteristics and actions which influence the implementation of a parent program directed at children's behavior problems. Using thematic analysis, data were examined from eight focus groups comprising 24 parents and 19 practitioners who have participated in the Incredible Years parent group program (IYPP). The analysis identified three groups of practitioners' characteristics perceived to impact the implementation of the IYPP: inferred interpersonal characteristics (genuine interest; empathy and warmth; positive regard; humbleness); inferred intrapersonal characteristics (objectivity; flexibility; well-being; reflexiveness) and objective characteristics (similar age; being a parent; clinical professional background; professional experience with children and the IYPP). These personal characteristics are perceived as serving to underpin practitioners' actions, and an integrated framework model is proposed where specific practitioners' actions are understood in relation to personal characteristics. Inferred characteristics are perceived as determinants in the intervention process while objective characteristics are seen as facilitators of parent engagement in the earliest stages of intervention. Finally, most of the characteristics and actions perceived as relevant in this study are contemplated in the IYPP model; however, the practitioners' intrapersonal well-being, self-reflexiveness and genuineness emerged as characteristics which may merit further consideration. The results from this study suggest that in the IYPP the person of the practitioner may indeed be worthy of more critical examination. Highlights: This is the first study exploring the perceived impact of practitioners' characteristics and actions in a parenting program. An integrated qualitative thematic analysis is made of both parents and practitioners' perspectives. Practitioners' personal characteristics are emphasized in the implementation of the Incredible Years parent program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]