The Role of Parenting Programmes in the Prevention of Child Maltreatment

Child maltreatment is a major worldwide concern and continuing high rates of abuse demand action. This article examines the role of parenting programmes as a strategy to prevent child maltreatment in the population as a whole and also as a targeted intervention for parents who have abused, or are at risk of abusing, their children. We argue that a blend of universal and targeted interventions is needed to reduce the prevalence of child maltreatment. Parenting interventions that concurrently target positive parenting and effective child management skills, dysfunctional parental attributions, and increasing parents' capacity to regulate their emotions are particularly useful. A variant of the Triple P—Positive Parenting Program, known as Pathways Triple P, is discussed to illustrate the value of this approach. Contextual factors that need to be addressed in working with child protection cases are also discussed. The role of training and supervision is discussed in the context of disseminating evidence‐based parenting programmes, and future directions for research are presented.     

The Efficacy of a Group Triple P (Positive Parenting Program) for Chinese Parents with a Child Diagnosed with ADHD in Hong Kong: A Pilot Randomised Controlled Study

The present pilot study evaluated the efficacy of the Level 4 Group Positive Parenting Program (Triple P) with Hong Kong Chinese parents who had a child with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), using a randomised controlled trial design. It was a mixed research method involving quantitative measurement and semi‐structured focus group. Participants were randomly assigned to Triple P (n = 8) or control group (n = 9) and completed measures on child disruptive behaviours, sense of parenting efficacy and satisfaction, family stress and service needs. Outcomes were assessed at pre‐, post‐, and 3‐month follow‐up. A focus group was also conducted with the participants in the intervention group upon the programme completion. Compared with the control group, the intervention group reported a significant reduction in intensity of child behaviour problems and a significant increase in parenting efficacy at post‐intervention. The gain in reducing intensity of child disruptive behaviours maintained to 3 months after the completion of programme. Qualitative data suggested the three key elements to help both parents and children get positive changes: understanding and empathy, emotional control, and persistence in applying positive parenting strategies. The results partially provided preliminary evidence supporting the efficacy of Triple P in reducing child behaviour problems for ADHD in Chinese society.     

父母养育目标的文化差异

父母养育目标存在着普遍的文化差异。在理论上,对养育目标文化差异的解释呈现出从群体水平到个体水平、从单维到双维的发展趋势。在研究上,除了对文化差异理论的检验之外,养育目标对于各文化群体的养育方式、养育策略,以及子代发展的影响也是研究关注的重点问题。结构化问卷法和开放式列举法是养育目标文化差异研究最常用的两种测量方法,各有其优缺点和适用范围。现有研究存在着过度概括、忽略子女一方的角色和作用等问题,需要将来的研究加以改进和解决     

学前儿童问题行为对父母抚养压力的影响及夫妻亲密的调节作用

研究旨在探讨学前儿童问题行为对父亲、母亲抚养压力的影响及夫妻亲密在其中的作用机制。采用儿童问题行为问卷、抚养压力量表和夫妻亲密量表对3164名学前儿童的父母进行测查。研究发现：（1）母亲抚养压力在学前儿童问题行为与父亲抚养压力之间起部分中介作用;（2）夫妻亲密调节母亲抚养压力对父亲抚养压力的作用,夫妻亲密越高,母亲抚养压力对父亲抚养压力的预测作用越强,学前儿童问题行为通过母亲抚养压力对父亲抚养压力的间接作用也越大。     

Can Hovering Hinder Helping? Examining the Joint Effects of Helicopter Parenting and Attachment on Prosocial Behaviors and Empathy in Emerging Adults

While previous research has established links among multiple aspects of parenting, empathy, and prosocial behaviors in youth, little is known regarding the relations between helicopter parenting, a particular type of parental over control, and empathy and prosocial behaviors (Padilla-Walker, 2014). Because helicopter parenting could undermine empathic and prosocial outcomes by negatively impacting self-regulatory behaviors and promoting narcissistic tendencies (Padilla-Walker, 2014; Segrin, Woszidlo, Givertz, Bauer, & Murphy, 2012; Segrin, Woszidlo, Givertz, & Montgomery, 2013), the author sought to examine potential relationships among these constructs. A battery of self-report measures was administered to an emerging adult sample (N = 187 college students; 49% women; M age = 18.81 years; 71% White). Hierarchical multiple regression model results indicated that both maternal and paternal helicopter parenting predicted fewer positive prosocial and empathic outcomes, and these relations depended on parental attachment, gender, and specific outcome assessed. Helicopter parenting appears to be a distinct type of parental overcontrol that especially contributes to moral development.     

Unfolding Relations among Mindful Parenting,Recurrent Conflict,and Adolescents’ Externalizing and Internalizing Problems

The current study examined unfolding relations among mothers’ mindful parenting, parent–adolescent recurrent conflict, and adolescents’ externalizing and internalizing problems. In a community sample of 117 families (31% black, Asian, American Indian, or Latino), parents and adolescents (52% female; average age = 12.13 years) were followed over 15 months. Parents answered questions about mindful parenting and recurrent conflict, and adolescents reported on their own externalizing and internalizing problems. Path analyses indicated that higher levels of mindful parenting were significantly related to lower levels of recurrent conflict 2–3 months later, controlling for previous levels of recurrent conflict. Moreover, lower levels of recurrent conflict were significantly related to lower levels of externalizing problems and internalizing problems 1 year later, controlling for previous levels of those problems. Subgroup analyses indicated that relations were comparable across subgroups defined by adolescent gender, race, parent marital status, and family financial strain. The effects of mindful parenting were robust even after accounting for other indicators of positive and supportive parenting, namely inductive reasoning and warmth in the parent–adolescent relationship. These findings highlight the potential of mindful parenting to improve family interactions and adolescent adjustment.     

Strengthening parent well‐being at the work—family interface: A German trial on workplace Triple P

This study examines the efficacy of a parenting training (Workplace Triple P (WPTP)) especially designed for the needs of employed parents. The program aims to reduce stress at the work–parenting interface by targeting family risk and protective factors and assisting parents to manage competing work and family demands. Ninety‐seven part‐ and full‐time working parents (74 mothers and 23 fathers; intervention group: n = 42 parents; waitlist‐control group n = 55 parents) from multiple organizations and multiple occupations with children between 2 and 10 years were randomly assigned to an intervention and a waitlist‐control condition. After the training, parents from the intervention condition, compared to those from the waitlist‐control condition, reported a significant reduction in individual and work‐related stress. Additionally, they reported a significant reduction in dysfunctional parenting and significant higher levels of parental and occupational self‐efficacy. Within the intervention condition all effects were maintained at the 3‐ and 6‐month follow‐up examinations. The findings support the notion that WPTP promotes parental well‐being and reduces stress at the work–parenting interface. Given that strengthening parenting skills has the potential to strengthen work, strategies to implement WPTP in organizational resources and community‐based services are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Mediated-Moderation Model of Maternal Parenting Style,Association with Deviant Peers,and Problem Behaviors in Urban African American and European American Adolescents

We examined a model positing that association with deviant peers mediates the relation between perceived maternal parenting style, represented by the dimensions demandingness, responsiveness, and their interaction, and problem behaviors in an urban sample of 82 African American and 56 European American young adolescents. Regression analyses revealed that the data are consistent with a model where association with deviant peers mediates the relation between maternal responsiveness and problem behaviors for European Americans and African American males. In addition, a responsiveness by demandingness interaction was found for European Americans. Only the relation between association with deviant peers and problem behaviors was supported for African American females. The results suggest that ethnic and gender variables might interact with pathways from parenting to association with deviant peers and problem behaviors and that the dimensions of parenting might not be equal in their salience.     

Training Community Members to Serve as Paraprofessionals in an Evidence-Based,Prevention Program for Parents of Preschoolers

Widespread dissemination of evidence-based programs for underserved populations may require non-traditional means of service provision. Collaboration with paraprofessionals from communities that are targeted for intervention holds promise as a delivery strategy that may make programs more accessible and acceptable, especially to parents living in low-income, urban neighborhoods. We describe a paraprofessional training program for individuals living in a community targeted for preventive intervention based on high levels of poverty and community violence. The design and implementation of the training program are described in the context of issues related to the use of paraprofessionals in community-based, preventive interventions with parents of young children. We also provide insight into lessons learned from a feasibility study as well as general guidelines for the development of paraprofessional training programs for delivery of evidence-based programs.     

Type a behavior pattern in mothers of infants: An exploration of associations with attachment,sensitive caregiving,and life-events

Abstract

In the present study. 83 lower- to upper-middle class mothers of first-born, 12-month-old infants were interviewed with the Adult Attachment Interview (George, Kaplan, and Main, 1985), and completed the Groninger Intelligence Test (Luteijn and Van der Ploeg, 1982). Eighteen months after the beginning of the study, 67 mothers (81% of the original sample) were interviewed with the Structured Interview (Rosenman, 1978), and were observed during a brief, semi-structured play session at home with their child - at that time a 2.5-years-old toddler. They also completed a checklist about major life-events that had occurred during the past 18 months. A large majority of these mothers of young children (81%) showed Type A behavior patterns. The job of parenting, indeed, appears to be stressful. Attachment and Type A behaviors, however, did not seem to be related, probably because the influence of attachment is restricted to the regulation of emotions in intimate relationships. Yet, Type A behavior predicted a more sensitive parenting style than Type B did. All mothers who experienced negative life-events or Serious health problems in the recent past showed Type A behavior patterns. Our findings show that the Structured Interview can be applied in a valid manner to mothers of young children passing trough a demanding phase in their lives. Further research is needed to uncover the causes of the high prevalence of Type A behaviors in young mothers.