A Confidant Support and Problem Solving Model of Divorced Fathers’ Parenting

This study tested a hypothesized social interaction learning (SIL) model of confidant support and paternal parenting. The latent growth curve analysis employed 230 recently divorced fathers, of which 177 enrolled support confidants, to test confidant support as a predictor of problem solving outcomes and problem solving outcomes as predictors of change in fathers’ parenting. Fathers’ parenting was hypothesized to predict growth in child behavior. Observational measures of support behaviors and problem solving outcomes were obtained from structured discussions of personal and parenting issues faced by the fathers. Findings replicated and extended prior cross‐sectional studies with divorced mothers and their confidants. Confidant support predicted better problem solving outcomes, problem solving predicted more effective parenting, and parenting in turn predicted growth in children's reduced total problem behavior T scores over 18 months. Supporting a homophily perspective, fathers’ antisociality was associated with confidant antisociality but only fathers’ antisociality influenced the support process model. Intervention implications are discussed regarding SIL parent training and social support.     

Strictly for Evangelical Parenting Support? The Case of Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS)

Parenting poses a unique set of opportunities and challenges for both mothers who work for pay and for those who stay at home across the United States today. Specific types of ??work-family?? mothers?? groups have thus emerged as a way for these parents to provide support, information, and advocacy to one another in friendly communities. This study analyzes the boundary work undertaken by one national Christian mothers?? group, Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS), to maximize its membership base and distinguish it from other work-family mothers?? organizations. In this article, I first probe how MOPS engages in a particular presentation of self that I call ??open evangelism?? to market its organization. Open evangelism combines both an open (nonreligious) and evangelical philosophy to appeal to a diversity of mothers across the country. I then use data collected from 25 in-depth interviews with MOPS members in 2009 in order to assess if and how this open evangelism is, in fact, experienced by members at the chapter level. I find that both open and evangelical themes emerge when members describe the benefits that they receive from joining the group and the challenges presented by parenthood, thereby suggesting that MOPS is successful in its self-presentation. I conclude with MOPS?? prospects for survival and growth in the competitive world of both religious and nonreligious mothers?? organizations.     

Childhood Adversity and Children’s Academic Functioning: Roles of Parenting Stress and Neighborhood Support

Existing research has shown that adverse childhood experiences from family instability and lack of safety increase children’s risk for poor academic functioning. A recent conceptual framework, however, has emphasized the need to investigate how parenting might mediate while community context might moderate the association between childhood adversity and children’s cognitive development. In the current study, we tested the roles of parenting stress and neighborhood support in the association between cumulative childhood adversity and children’s current academic functioning. We conducted a secondary data analysis on the subsample of school-aged children (i.e., 6–17 years old; N?=?65,680) from the 2011–2012 United States National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH). The parent provided telephone survey data on six types of adversity (e.g., parent’s divorce) that the target child experienced, parenting stress, neighborhood support, as well as the child’s academic functioning. Controlling for the child’s age, gender, ethnicity, and the parent’s education level, structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed a significant moderated mediating effect: parenting stress partially mediated the association between history of childhood adversity and children’s current academic functioning (β?=??1.760, p?<?0.001), while neighborhood support moderated the association between parenting stress (β?=?0.492, p?<?0.001) and academic functioning.     

Number of Children Associated with Mothers’ Perceived Need for Behavior Support: Implications for Parenting Interventions

Researchers acknowledge mothers’ contributing role in influencing children’s behavioral displays of emotion, but there is a dearth in the literature on mothers’ emotion-related behaviors, beliefs, and needs. Urban, Head Start Mothers (n = 114) participated in a quantitative, exploratory investigation to examine child, maternal and community factors that may be associated with level of expressiveness, perceived role in emotional development, and receptivity to behavior support. Findings suggested that, compared to mothers raising two or more children, those raising only one child were significantly less positive in self-reported expressiveness, less supportive of the suggested role of mothers in the literature, and less receptive to parent-focused behavior support. Implications for acknowledging possibly distinct needs of Head Start mothers of singletons as well as seeking input from more experienced Head Start mothers in devising parenting interventions will be discussed.     

Parenting Practices,Parenting Style,and Children’s School Achievement

This study, drawing on data from the 2002 Survey of Approaches to Educational Planning (SAEP), examined the predictive effects of parenting practices and parenting style on children’s school achievement, and the predictive effects of parental expectations and parental beliefs on parenting style for 6,626 respondents with children aged 5–18 years in Canada. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses, after controlling for family socioeconomic status (SES), revealed the substantial positive predictive effects of family SES, parental encouragement, parental expectations, and parental beliefs on children’s school achievement. In contrast, parental monitoring had a substantial negative predictive effect on children’s school achievement in the context of other variables. Although parental expectations were not related to parenting style, parental beliefs were positively associated with both parental encouragement and parental monitoring—the two dimensions of authoritative parenting style.     

Parenting Narcissus: What Are the Links Between Parenting and Narcissism?

Previous theorizing by clinical psychologists suggests that adolescent narcissism may be related to parenting practices (Kernberg, 1975; Kohut, 1977). Two studies investigated the relations between parenting dimensions (i.e., warmth, monitoring, and psychological control) and narcissism both with and without removing from narcissism variance associated with trait self-esteem. Two hundred and twenty-two college students (Study 1) and 212 high school students (Study 2) completed the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, a trait self-esteem scale, and standard measures of the three parenting dimensions. Parental warmth was associated positively and monitoring was associated negatively with both types of narcissism. Psychological control was positively associated with narcissism scores from which trait self-esteem variance had been removed. Clinical implications of the findings are discussed, limitations are addressed, and future research directions are suggested.     

Foster Parents’ Involvement in Authoritative Parenting and Interest in Future Parenting Training

We surveyed 191 Southwest Ohio foster parents regarding their involvement in authoritative parenting and interest for additional parenting education. Our results showed that most respondents reported using an authoritative parenting style and were interested in receiving future training. Involvement in authoritative parenting differed significantly based on level of education and number of years as a foster parent. Foster parents with a college degree or higher were significantly more involved in authoritative parenting than foster parents with a high school diploma or less. Those who had been a foster parent for greater than five years were significantly more likely than those who been a foster parent for five years or less to use authoritative parenting and desire future training in authoritative parenting.     

Parenting styles or practices? Parenting, sympathy, and prosocial behaviors among adolescents

In the present study, the authors examined the relations among parenting styles, parental practices, sympathy, and prosocial behaviors in adolescents. The participants were 233 adolescents (M age = 16.7 years; 69% girls; mostly White) from public high schools in the Midwestern region of the United States who completed measures of prosocial behaviors, parenting styles, parenting practices, and sympathy. Overall, the authors found evidence that parenting practices were significantly associated with adolescents' prosocial behaviors. However, the associations between parenting practices and prosocial behaviors occurred mostly through the indirect relations with sympathy. The relations among parenting practices, sympathy, and prosocial behaviors varied as a function of the specific parenting practice and the specific prosocial behavior. Implications for future research on the study of prosocial development and parenting among adolescents are discussed.     

Conscious Parenting: A Qualitative Study on Swedish Parents’ Motives to Participate in a Parenting Program

Triple P is a parenting program that aims to prevent behavioral, emotional, and developmental problems in children. Because Triple P is a new parenting program in Sweden, it is important to see how parents felt about the intervention. The aim of this study was to find out why parents of preschool children chose to participate in Triple P in Sweden, what they thought of the Triple P curriculum, and how the program related to their parenting philosophy in general. This is a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with seven mothers and three fathers who participated in Triple P. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and were analysed using Malterud’s method of Systematic Text Condensation. Parents chose to participate in Triple P for several reasons: they wanted to learn more about the intervention; they had specific problems that they sought help for; or they felt encouraged to participate due to advertisements and recommendations from friends. Of the Triple P curriculum, the participants especially enjoyed the “directed discussion” technique, the positive reinforcement sections, and the instructions on how to communicate effectively with their child by staying calm, close, and maintaining eye contact. It was important for many of the parents to feel validated and respected, and they liked having discussions with the preschool teacher rather than being told what to do. Parents in this Swedish sample generally liked and selectively used the strategies they learned from participating in Triple P, depending on how well these fit with their own parenting experiences and philosophy.     

Do Parents Benefit From Help When Completing a Self-Guided Parenting Program Online? A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Triple P Online With and Without Telephone Support

In response to recent increases in the dissemination of Web-based parenting supports, an important consideration is whether the core benefits of self-directed participation in online parenting interventions are counterbalanced by issues such as high dropout and noncompletion rates commonly reported within the Internet intervention literature. This study outlines a randomized controlled trial of Triple P Online, a Web-based variant of the Triple P—Positive Parenting Program, delivered with varied levels of support scaffolding. Participants were 183 parents of children between 1 and 8 years of age with concerns about their child’s behavior and at least one area of disadvantage or family difficulty. Participants were randomized to self-directed Triple P Online, telephone-supported Triple P Online, or a wait-list control. Primary outcomes measured at baseline, postintervention, and 5-month follow-up were negative parenting styles and child behavior problems. Secondary outcomes included parent confidence, anger, and adjustment; relationship quality; program engagement; and parent satisfaction. Self-directed participants showed short-term treatment effects, including reductions in overall negative parenting and frequency of child behavior problems, while practitioner support led to greater improvements in negative parenting and intensity of difficult child behaviors. Participants in the supported condition were also more likely to complete modules and reported greater program satisfaction. At follow-up, 50% of outcomes for the self-directed condition were significantly better than the control, while 94% of outcomes were significantly better than the control in the practitioner-supported condition. Although self-directed online approaches to parenting intervention are promising, this research highlights how minimal support can improve effective engagement and enhance outcomes for families.     

Support Means Direct Help: Filipino Adolescents’ Multidimensional Conceptualization of Social Support

This study investigated Filipino adolescents?? conceptualization of social support. While Western literature suggests that adolescents, in their developmental task of growing towards independence and individuality, prefer emotional support and acceptance in achieving these goals, it is worthwhile to discover what Filipino adolescents define as supportive in their lives, given a collectivist and interdependent cultural background. In-depth interviews were done with 89 male adolescents. Results reveal that social support among Filipino adolescents is conceptualized mainly as hands-on support. Advice, personal assistance, and being challenged are conceptualized as expressions of care and concern, rather than as intrusive acts. Furthermore, Filipino adolescents have a wide source of social support, with different social support providers perceived as having a particular niche in terms of the kind of social support they provide. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Promoting Optimal Parenting and Children’s Mental Health: A Preliminary Evaluation of the How-to Parenting Program

Parenting quality is widely accepted as a primary predictor of children’s mental health. The present study examined the effectiveness of a parenting program in fostering optimal parenting and child mental health. The selected program was How to talk so kids will listen & listen so kids will talk (How-to Parenting Program). This program was selected because its content corresponds closely to what the parenting style literature suggests is optimal parenting (i.e., includes structure, affiliation and autonomy support). Eleven groups of six to twelve parents were conducted in 7 local grade schools. The program, offered by two trained leaders, consisted of eight weekly sessions and taught a total of 30 skills. A total of 82 parents completed questionnaires both prior to and after the program. Participants’ children between eight and 12 years old (N = 44) completed questionnaires at school, at both assessment points. Repeated measures ANOVAs using parent reports indicated that structure, affiliation and autonomy support were increased after the program, compared to baseline. The level of child internalizing and externalizing problems also decreased significantly. Importantly, children reports confirmed that parental autonomy support increased from pre to post-test and child-reported well-being improved as well. The preliminary evidence from this pre-test versus post-test repeated measures design suggests that the How-to Parenting Program is effective in improving parenting style and in promoting children’s mental health and that future evaluation research examining the potential of this program is warranted.     

Correction to: Examining the Relationship between Helicopter Parenting and Emerging Adults’ Mindsets Using the Consolidated Helicopter Parenting Scale

Journal of Child and Family Studies -     

Parental Competency as a Mediator in the PACE Parenting Program’s Short and Long-term Effects on Parenting Stress

Higher levels of parenting stress and lower levels of parental competency have been shown to adversely affect a variety of child outcomes such as both externalizing and internalizing behavior problems. Behavioral parent training programs simultaneously decrease parenting stress while increasing parental competency. Recent research has focused on possible mechanisms of change that influence the efficacy of behavioral parent training programs. The present study examined parental competency, specifically parental efficacy and satisfaction, as mechanisms of change in the relationship between attendance in the Parenting Our Children to Excellence (PACE) program and long-term levels of parenting stress. Six hundred and ten parents participated in the PACE parenting program and measures were collected at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and follow-up. Path analysis was utilized to test parental competency as a mediator between engagement in PACE and follow-up parenting stress. Parental satisfaction, one factor of parental competency, was found to be a significant mediator between engagement in PACE and follow-up parenting stress. This study has important implications in further identifying mechanisms of change within behavioral parent training programs.     

Do Parenting Variables Have Specific or Widespread Impact on Parenting Covariates? The Effects of Manipulating Self-Efficacy or Verbal Responsiveness

ABSTRACT

This research aimed at determining to what extent manipulating a specific parenting variable, self-efficacy beliefs or verbal responsiveness, causes specific change in this variable alone, or conversely to what extent it causes widespread change that affects other parenting covariates—in particular behavioral and emotional responsiveness, positive affect irritability, support, and control. Two microtrials were used to achieve this goal. The 45 parents participating were randomly assigned to an 8-week waiting list followed by an 8-week intervention condition focusing on self-efficacy manipulation, or to an 8-week intervention condition focusing on verbal responsiveness manipulation. It can be concluded from the results that the two specific parenting variables under consideration had widespread effects on the six parenting behaviors, with the exception of control in the self-efficacy beliefs condition. The results are discussed for both empirical and clinical purposes.     

Parenting Scale: Which Version Should We Use?

Factor analytic studies of one of the widely used measurements of parental discipline, the Parenting Scale (PS), have yielded ambiguous results. The purpose of this study was to compare various forms of the PS in terms of factor structure and other psychometric properties. The sample consisted of 617 mothers and 430 fathers of 2 to 5-year-olds. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that shorter structural models provided a better fit compared to the original model; however, none led to an optimal fit. Other psychometric properties such as internal consistency, test-retest reliability, concurrent and predictive validity were slightly higher for the original Laxness and Overreactivity subscales. The findings from this study and previous studies suggest that the inter-item relationship in the scale might be too sensitive to sample characteristics, implying that factor analysis might not be the best way to measure the scale’s validity. Nevertheless, other psychometric properties support the use of the Parenting Scale in the assessment of dysfunctional parenting practices. We recommend using the original Laxness and Overreactivity subscales rather than the later models, especially for research purposes.