Abstract
Prevention-focused parenting education programs (P-FPEPs) provide knowledge and support to parents to strengthen parent-child relationships, enhance parental and family well-being, and promote healthy child development. The positive impact of such programs on child health and development is well documented. Yet, how P-FPEPs influence parents remains unclear. The objective of this study was to explore parental perceptions of changes associated with participation in a P-FPEP. We analyzed data using interpretive description with qualitative responses from 459 parents who participated in nine different P-FPEPs in a large Canadian city. Participation in a P-FPEP changed parents' relationships with themselves, their children, their partners, and their community. Participants' relationship with themselves as parents changed as they recognized the value of self-care without guilt, gained knowledge of typical child development, and developed greater confidence in their parenting. Positive changes in participants' relationships with their children were facilitated by better understanding the perspective of the child, improving communication, feeling more connected to their child, and changing parenting behavior. For many participants, the relationship with their partner improved when they learned about different parenting styles and began communicating more openly. Participants' relationships with the larger community were strengthened as they experienced a sense of normalization of their parenting experiences, developed connections with other parents, and learned about community resources. Independent of any specific program curriculum or structure, change associated with P-FPEPs focused on how a shift in understanding and attitudes changed relationships and consequently changed parenting behavior.
Highlights
Parents are most influential in the earliest years when their child’s brain is developing rapidly and most experiences are shaped by the family environment (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000)
The participants reported that Prevention-focused parenting education programs (P-FPEPs) shifted their knowledge and attitudes about their role as a parent, which changed their relationships with themselves, their children, their partners, and the community and reportedly changed their parenting behavior
We identified parental perspectives of change associated with participation in nine different P-FPEPs offered by six different agencies
Summary
Parents are most influential in the earliest years when their child’s brain is developing rapidly and most experiences are shaped by the family environment (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000). We use the term P-FPEP to describe programs that provide education and support at either the primary or the secondary prevention level (Wakschlag et al, 2019) The goal of such programs is to (a) promote healthy child development, (b) strengthen parent–child relationships, and (c) enhance parental and family well-being. P-FPEPs recognize that children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development happens in the context of healthy and sustaining parent–child relationships (Morris et al, 2018; Ştefan & Miclea, 2010). The purpose of this study was to explore parental perspectives of change associated with participation in P-FPEPs
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