Positive Parenting Behaviors Research Articles

Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Relationships Between Family Social Support and Parenting Stress, Burden, Beliefs and Practices

This paper includes the res ults of a systematic review and meta-analysis of the relationships between perceived family social support and parenting stress, caregiving burden, parent engagement practices, and parent-child interaction practices among caregivers raising a child with and without identified disabilities or health-related conditions birth to 18 years of age. The study included 82 independent samples of caregivers (N = 7,675 study participants) conducted in 12 countries between 1985 and 2020. The Family Support Scale total scale score was the independent variable in each study. The dependent measures included seven different parenting stress scales, eight different caregiving burden scales, seven different parenting belief scales, and nine different parenting behavior and practices scales. The correlations between the independent and dependent measures were the sizes of effect between the perceived family social support and the different parenting measures. Results showed that perceived family social support was related to attenuated parenting stress, less caregiving burden, and more positive parenting beliefs, behavior, and practices. The sizes of effect ranged between r = -.14, 95% CI = -.17, -.11, p = .000, for caregiving burden and r = .22, 95% CI = .16, .28, p = .000, for parenting beliefs. The sizes of effect for the relationships between measures did not differ as a function of child condition (developmental disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, health-related conditions, at-risk status, or no disability or at-risk status) or caregiver gender (mothers or fathers). Child age moderated the relationships between family social support and parenting stress and caregiving burden and caregiver age and marital status moderated the relationships between family social support and parenting stress. The pattern of results provided support for the hypothesized relationships between the independent and dependent measures based on the conceptual frameworks that guided the conduct of the study and showed that perceived family social support was related to attenuated parenting stress, less caregiving burden, and more positive parenting beliefs and practices.

Mindful Parents, Mindful Children? Exploring the Role of Mindful Parenting

SYNOPSIS Objective. Mindfulness in parents is associated with a number of positive family characteristics, including positive parenting behaviors, fewer externalizing or internalizing difficulties in children, and positive parent-child relationships. However, little is known about whether parents’ and children’s mindfulness may be linked, or whether mindful parenting may indirectly support this link. The present cross-sectional study sought to explore these associations in mothers and fathers and their preadolescent children. Design. One hundred and twelve triads consisting of mothers, fathers, and their 9- to 12-year-old children participated. Mothers and fathers rated their mindfulness and mindful parenting, and children rated their mindfulness. Results. Mothers’ mindfulness was indirectly associated with children’s mindfulness through mothers’ mindful parenting. This indirect effect was not significant for fathers, although one facet of mindfulness – nonreactivity to thoughts and feelings – led to a significant indirect association. Conclusions. Mindful parents report more mindful parenting behaviors, which in turn may relate to higher child mindfulness. Implications for the socialization of mindfulness in the family are discussed.

The Role of Paternal Parenting and Co-parenting Quality in Children's Academic Self-Efficacy.

This study explored the unique effect of fathers’ parenting behaviors and the quality of co-parenting described as the degree of consistency between paternal and maternal parenting behaviors on children’s academic self-efficacy. The power of both pancultural parenting behaviors (i.e., emotional warmth and rejection) and specific parenting controlling behaviors that are relatively common in Turkish culture (i.e., intrusion and guilt induction) in predicting academic self-efficacy was tested. A total of 1,931 children completed measures of parenting behaviors and academic self-efficacy in math and literature courses in their school. Overall, girls reported higher levels of literature self-efficacy, whereas boys reported higher levels of math self-efficacy. Compared to boys, girls perceived higher levels of positive parenting behaviors from both their fathers and mothers. The results of the regression analyses showed that, whereas father warmth had stronger effects on boys’ math self-efficacy, mother warmth had stronger effects on girls’ literature self-efficacy. Examination of the effects of co-parenting quality demonstrated that children with positively consistent parents (i.e., both parents having high positive and low negative parenting behaviors) reported the highest level of academic self-efficacy, whereas those having negatively consistent parents had the lowest level of academic self-efficacy. Analyses on inconsistent co-parenting, however, yielded compensatory effects, which were similar to positively consistent parents, and deterioration effects, which were similar to negatively consistent parents depending on the gender of parent and child, domain of parenting behavior, and academic efficacy. This study contributed to the current literature by showing the unique role of fathers over and beyond mothers, and confirmed the importance of positive parenting and parenting consistency in promoting children’s academic efficacy. Cultural and practical implications of the findings were discussed.

Association between maternal adverse childhood experiences and child resilience and self-esteem: Results from the K-CHILD study

BackgroundPrevious studies have found that children of mothers with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are more likely to have adverse mental health outcomes. However, little is known about the role of other cognitive abilities, such as resilience and self-esteem, in how children deal with stressful situations. ObjectiveTo examine the association between maternal ACEs and resilience and self-esteem in children. Participants and settingThe data was collected as part of the population-based Kochi Child Health Impact of Living Difficulty (K-CHILD) study in 2016. Participants included 2759 in first grade, 2878 in fifth grade, 3143 in eighth grade, and 3611 children in 11th grade living in Kochi Prefecture, Japan (N = 12,391). MethodsMaternal ACEs and covariates were reported by mothers. Mothers provided information regarding their children's resilience for children in the first, fifth, and eighth grades. Children in the fifth, eighth, and 11th grades reported their own self-esteem. ResultsChildren of mothers with a larger number of ACEs had lower levels of resilience (p for trend (i.e., linear associations) < 0.001) as well as lower levels of self-esteem (p for trend <0.001), adjusting for potential confounding variables. These associations became non-significant after adjusting for potential mediators, and the relationship was mediated by variables such as maternal psychological distress, current socioeconomic status, and parenting behaviors. ConclusionsThere was a significant dose-response relationship between the number of maternal ACEs and children's resilience and self-esteem, and this relationship may be mediated by maternal psychological distress, current socioeconomic status, and positive parenting behaviors. Further interventional studies that break the link between maternal ACEs and resilience and self-esteem should be conducted.

Autistic mothers' perinatal well-being and parenting styles.

Autistic people may be at higher risk of perinatal mental health conditions, given that autism and mental health conditions commonly co-occur and that autistic people face additional stressors such as barriers to appropriate maternity care. This study explored self-reported stress, depression, anxiety and satisfaction with life during the third trimester of pregnancy (n = 27 autistic women; n = 25 non-autistic women), 2 to 3 months after birth (n = 24 autistic women; n = 26 non-autistic women) and 6 months after birth (n = 22 autistic women; n = 29 non-autistic women). Self-reported parenting confidence and parenting styles were explored at 6 months after birth. Autistic participants scored significantly higher than non-autistic participants on stress, depression and anxiety across the time-points as a whole, although there were no group differences for satisfaction with life. Anxiety scores significantly decreased over time for both groups. No group differences were found for parenting confidence nor parenting anxiety, nurturance, involvement or routine, although the autistic group scored lower on parenting discipline. The findings highlight the need for effective screening and support for perinatal mental health conditions for autistic people. Professionals working with autistic parents should be aware that autistic and non-autistic parents report being equally likely to engage in positive parenting behaviours such as nurturance and involvement.Lay abstractAutistic people can have difficulties during pregnancy and after giving birth, such as difficulty getting health care that meets their needs. Autistic people may therefore have lower well-being than non-autistic people during this time. We asked autistic and non-autistic people to fill in questionnaires measuring stress, depression, anxiety and satisfaction with life. They were asked to do this once during pregnancy, once 2 to 3 months after giving birth and once 6 months after giving birth. At 6 months after giving birth, they also filled in questionnaires about parenting. The autistic parents had higher stress, depression and anxiety scores than the non-autistic parents. For both groups, scores for anxiety went down over time. There were no differences between the groups on satisfaction with their life or how confident they were as a parent. There were no differences between the groups on most areas of parenting style, although autistic parents scored lower on parenting discipline. This study suggests that autistic people may be more stressed, depressed and anxious than non-autistic people during pregnancy and after giving birth. Autistic people therefore need good quality support during this time. This study also suggests that autistic and non-autistic parents may be just as likely to parent in positive ways such as being sensitive to their baby’s needs.

In vivo social regulation of high-risk parenting: A conceptual model of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for child maltreatment prevention

Meta-analyses show that Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) significantly reduces child abuse and neglect in families where maltreatment has already occurred; however, research into the underlying mechanisms of change (i.e., how PCIT effects positive changes in parenting) remains limited. In this article, we discuss a new conceptual model of PCIT’s active ingredients that is informed by biobehavioral research documenting the physiological underpinnings of problematic parenting. We describe deficits in self-regulation observed in child maltreating parents and PCIT’s unique live coaching approach and associated techniques that may form the basis for in-vivo social regulation in the act of parenting that supports more effective, positive parenting behavior, strengthens parents’ self-regulation skills, and reduces child maltreatment.

WE’RE NOT WORKING WITH A BLANK SLATE: Students’ pre-college leadership activities and perceived parenting behavior as predictors of college-based leader emergence and leader self-efficacy

The purpose of this study was to explore how variables such as student demographics, pre-college leadership activities, and perceived pre-college parenting behaviors predict students’ leader self-efficacy (i.e., individuals’ confidence in themselves to lead and belief that others will support their leadership [Hannah et al., 2008]) in college and leader emergence (i.e., college-based leadership involvements [DeRue &amp; Ashford, 2010]) in college. Undergraduate students (n = 420) at a large, public university in the Mid-Atlantic were surveyed to examine these relationships and data were analyzed using hierarchical and logistic regression, with appropriate controls and moderators. Findings included discovery that pre-college engagement with sports team positional leadership, community service, extracurriculars, and positive parenting behaviors, such as family routine and greater quality time with parents, predicted leader self-efficacy. Further, findings noted that pre-college community service, extracurriculars, peer tutoring and perceptions of parental quality time and proactive parenting predicted leader emergence. This study suggests that students’ leadership development is influenced by myriad systems across the lifespan and demonstrates that, as educators committed to student development, we must engage the full arc of our students’ leadership journeys and provide for intentional partnerships between higher education and the K-12 community.

The impact of depression on mothers' neural processing of their adolescents' affective behavior.

Depression affects neural processing of emotional stimuli and could, therefore, impact parent–child interactions. However, the neural processes with which mothers with depression process their adolescents’ affective interpersonal signals and how this relates to mothers’ parenting behavior are poorly understood. Mothers with and without depression (N = 64 and N = 51, respectively; Mage = 40 years) from low-income families completed an interaction task with their adolescents (Mage = 12.8 years), which was coded for both individuals’ aggressive, dysphoric, positive and neutral affective behavior. While undergoing fMRI, mothers viewed video clips from this task of affective behavior from their own and an unfamiliar adolescent. Relative to non-depressed mothers, those with depression showed more aggressive and less positive affective behavior during the interaction task and more activation in the bilateral insula, superior temporal gyrus and striatum but less in the lateral prefrontal cortex while viewing aggressive and neutral affect. Findings were comparable for own and unfamiliar adolescents’ affect. Heightened limbic, striatal and sensory responses were associated with more aggressive and dysphoric parenting behavior during the interactions, while reduced lateral prefrontal activation was associated with less positive parenting behavior. These results highlight the importance of depressed mothers’ affective information processing for understanding mothers’ behavior during interactions with their adolescents.

Parenting interventions to support parent/child attachment and psychosocial adjustment in foster and adoptive parents and children: A systematic review.

Parenting interventions to support parent/child attachment and psychosocial adjustment in foster and adoptive parents and children: A systematic review.

Parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) with families of children with autism spectrum disorder.

Parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) is an evidence-based behavioral parent training program designed for preschool-age children that emphasizes supporting parent-child interaction patterns to improve child behavior and enhance the quality of parent-child relationships. PCIT has been deemed efficacious in treating children with disruptive behavior disorders, and recent studies have shown promising results utilizing aspects of PCIT with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but none of these studies applied the entire PCIT intervention per manual protocol. The present study is the first to test the efficacy of PCIT, without modification, with families of preschool-age children with ASD without comorbid behavioral difficulties. This study employed a single-subject multiple-probe design to evaluate the efficacy of PCIT with four families with children with ASD between the ages of 2 and 4 years old (M = 40 months) over a 4-month period. PCIT was effective in increasing positive parenting behavior, decreasing negative parenting behavior, and increasing child compliance to parental commands. Parents reported greater confidence in parenting abilities post-treatment and significant improvement in the core areas of autism symptomatology. Parents endorsed significant improvement in aspects of the parent-child relationship, such as attachment and involvement. Parents of children with ASD demonstrated more positive and effective parenting behavior and reported enhancements in the parent-child relationship after participating in PCIT. Children were more compliant to parental commands and exhibited improvements in social and behavioral functioning. Increases in positive parenting behaviors and child compliance to parental requests were maintained 1 month after treatment and outside the clinic setting during generalization sessions. Parents of children with ASD reported a high degree of satisfaction with PCIT. The present study provides initial evidence of the efficacy of utilizing PCIT with families of preschool-age children with ASD and supports the continued investigation of the efficacy of PCIT with this population.

Effects of parenting education programs for refugee and migrant parents: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PurposeThis systematic review and meta-analysis investigated the effects of parenting education programs (PEPs) for refugee and migrant parents.MethodsA systematic review was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines. Relevant studies published from 2000 to 2020 were identified through a systematic search of six electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, RISS, KMBASE). A meta-analysis of the studies was then undertaken.ResultsOf the 14,996 published works identified, 23 studies satisfied the inclusion criteria, and 19 studies were analyzed to estimate the effect sizes (standardized mean differences) of the PEPs using random-effect models. PEPs were effective for parenting efficacy (effect size [ES]=1.40; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.14-1.66), positive parenting behaviors (ES=0.51; 95% CI: 0.30-0.73), parent-child relationships (ES=0.38; 95% CI: 0.22-0.53), and parenting stress (ES=0.64; 95% CI: 0.50-0.79). There were statistically significant differences in the effect sizes of PEPs that included mothers only (ES=0.93), included children under 7 years of age(ES=0.91), did not include child participation (0.77), continued for 19 or more sessions (ES=0.80), and were analyzed in quasi-experimental studies (ES=0.86). The overall effect of publication bias was robust.ConclusionPEPs were found to be effective at improving parenting efficacy, positive parenting behaviors, parent-child relationships, and parenting stress.

Children's daily lives and well-being: Findings from the CORONA-CODOMOsurvey 1st wave.

BackgroundThe coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has changed people's lives dramatically. Few data on the acute effects of the pandemic on children's daily lives and well‐being have been published to date. This study aimed to capture its effects on Japanese children during the first peak of the outbreak.MethodsWe conducted a web‐based, anonymous cross‐sectional survey targeting Japanese children aged 7–17 years and parents/guardians of children aged 0–17 years. Eligible individuals were invited to participate in the survey from April 30 to May 31, 2020. This self‐report questionnaire examined daily life and behaviors, psychological symptoms, well‐being, quality of life, and positive parenting or abusive behaviors at the very beginning of the outbreak.ResultsA total of 2,591 children and 6,116 parents/guardians participated in our survey. Sixty‐two percent of children reported screen time exceeding 2 h. Twenty percent of children reported abusive behaviors by family members. Nine in ten parents/guardians of school‐aged children reported that their child had at least one acute stress symptom in the past month. Average mental health subscale scores from KINDLR questionnaire on quality of life were lower than the national average for all grades. Nearly half of parents/guardians refrained from seeking medical care for the child's symptoms.ConclusionsThe COVID‐19 pandemic had serious acute impacts on Japanese children's daily lives, well‐being, family relationships, and health‐care utilization, including some impacts that are potentially long‐lasting; thus, proactive interventions and services are needed, as well as longitudinal surveys.

Maternal Parenting Stress, Mother-Child Interaction Activities, Maternal Parenting Behaviors, and Preschoolers’ School Readiness in Early Childhood: Longitudinal Effects on Children’s Academic Ability at School Entry

Objectives: The main purpose of this study was to explore the longitudinal effects of maternal parenting stress, mother-child interaction activities, maternal parenting behaviors, and preschoolers' school readiness on children's academic ability at school entry in early childhood.Methods: This study used data from the seventh (T1) and eighth (T2) wave (2014ㅡ2015) of the Panel Study on Korean Children. The participants of this study were 942 between 6 and 7-year-old children and their mothers. Data analysis was performed using structural equation modeling.Results: First, the relationship between maternal parenting stress and children's academic ability at school admission was sequentially mediated by mother-child interaction activities and preschoolers' school readiness. The higher the maternal parenting stress, the lower the mother-child interaction activities, and the lower the mother-child interaction activities, the lower the degree of preschoolers' school readiness. The poor degree of preschoolers' school readiness was related to the children's low academic ability at school entry. Second, the relationship between maternal parenting stress and children's academic ability at school entry was sequentially mediated by parenting behaviors and preschoolers' school readiness. The higher the maternal parenting stress, the less positive maternal parenting behaviors were, and the less positive maternal parenting behaviors were, the lower the level of preschoolers' school readiness, and the lower the children's academic performance at school entry.Conclusion: This study indicated that maternal parenting stress, mother-child interaction activities, maternal parenting behaviors, and preschoolers' school readiness in early childhood influenced firstgrade children's academic performance.

On the Relationship Between Mothers’ and Fathers’ Parenting Behaviors and Children’s Explicit and Implicit Self-Esteem

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to clarify and elaborate the concept of implicit self-esteem by identifying parenting domains that are related to implicit self-esteem as well as by comparing the correlation between parenting behaviors and children’s explicit and implicit self-esteem (ESE &amp; ISE). Furthermore, based on previous studies’ emphasis on the functions of self-esteem discrepancies, 4 groups of self-esteem types were included in the analysis: secure self-esteem, defensive self-esteem, damaged self-esteem and congruent low self-esteem.Methods: Participants were 279 Korean middle school students (114 boys and 165 girls). Children’s ESE and ISE were measured using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) and the Name-Letter Task (NLT), respectively, and the parenting behavior measure consisted of 8 domains: monitoring, reasoning, inconsistency, over-involvement, over-expectation, neglect, physical abuse, and affection. Considering the effect of gender on the parent-child relationship, analysis was conducted according to gender.Results: Comparison between the correlations revealed that among 32 factors, differences in ESE and ISE were significant in 13 factors and not significant in 19 factors. Further, most of the parenting domains were significantly related to both daughters’ and sons’ ESE, while only a few of father and mother’s parenting domains were related to ISE. Boys’ ISE was negatively related to fathers’ over-involvement and mothers’ reasoning, while girls’ ISE was positively related to both parents’ monitoring and negatively related to neglect. Additionally, the group with secure self-esteem (characterized by high ESE and high ISE) mostly reported high levels of positive parenting behaviors and low levels of negative parenting behaviors, while the group with congruent low self-esteem (characterized by low ESE and low ISE) mostly reported low levels of positive parenting behaviors and high levels of negative parenting behaviors.Conclusion: This study contributes significant findings to the understanding of ISE. Based on the current study’s results, it is plausible to conclude that ISE performs a similar function to ESE, yet weaker. Moreover, the importance of measuring mothers’ and fathers’ parenting behaviors separately could be more emphasized. Further discussions are suggested regarding areas of contention over the formation and the concept of ISE.

A systematic review of interventions that have the potential to foster engaged fathering to enhance children's health and development

AbstractThis review aimed to identify and evaluate interventions that have the potential to foster engaged fathering to enhance children's health and development. Relevant articles published in the last 20 years were searched in Medline, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and Web of Science databases. The quality of studies was assessed independently by two reviewers using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal Checklists. Thirty out of 3968 articles met the inclusion criteria and were subsequently reviewed. Studies were conducted in six countries (USA, Australia, Canada, Germany, Vietnam and Taiwan). Twenty‐one studies were targeted interventions while nine were universal interventions. The interventions involved parenting education, physical activity, nutrition, father–child socialization, father delivered infant massage and father–infant skin‐to‐skin contact. Authors of the studies reported that the interventions led to significant improvements in positive parenting behaviours and fathers' engagement with their children and better physical health and developmental outcomes among children. Notwithstanding the reported benefits of the interventions, all 30 studies had one or more methodological problems that call in question the generalizability of the findings. Future, well‐designed, RCT studies with larger sample sizes and clear measures of fidelity are warranted to replicate and strengthen findings reported in this review.

Parent-adolescent emotion-related behavior during conflict in a clinical sample.

Parents and adolescents often have conflict. Previous research has been inconsistent regarding the association between some parent behaviors during this conflict and adolescent symptoms. This study examines parents' behaviors during a conflict resolution discussion in a clinical sample, and the relationship between parents' behaviors and adolescents' depression and anxiety symptoms. Depression and anxiety symptoms were self-reported by 22 adolescents of ages 13-17 who were diagnosed with depression. They also participated in an observed conflict resolution task with one parent. Using observationally coded data, we utilized two linear multiple regressions to assess how parent and adolescent emotion-related behaviors related to adolescents' depression and anxiety symptoms. Adolescents' conflict behaviors were not associated with their psychopathology symptoms. Parent conflict behaviors of support and withdrawal were both negatively associated with adolescent depression and anxiety, with parent contempt marginally associated with adolescent depression. In this clinical sample, parents of adolescents with low mood or anxiety demonstrated some reduced negative parenting behaviors (i.e., contempt and withdrawal), but also reduced positive parenting behavior (i.e., support). The results suggest that when some negative parenting behaviors are reduced, this may inadvertently reinforce depressive behaviors. The results also indicate the importance of increasing supportive parent behaviors.

A Personalized Remote Video-Feedback Universal Parenting Program: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

The randomized controlled trial examined the efficacy of a personalized remote video feedback parenting program to improve parenting and child behavior outcomes. Ninety-two mothers of 2-6-year-old children were randomly allocated into the intervention group (n = 50) and waiting-list control group (n = 42). The Strengthening Bonds preventive program was performed to improve positive parenting. The mothers participated in one in-person group session. During six weeks, the mothers received, via smartphone, remote personalized video feedback about their mother-child interactions in a play situation. Parenting was the primary outcome, and child behavior was the secondary one. Pre- and post-intervention assessments were performed. The generalized estimating equation analysis showed no significant results in the intention-to-treat (ITT). In the treatment-on-the-treated (TOT), there were statistically significant effects of the intervention decreasing mothers' coercive parenting practices and child behavior problems. The structural equation model analysis showed that the intervention-induced reductions in children's behavior problems were mediated by improvements in coercive practices. There was a direct effect of the intervention to improve the parental sense of competence. Despite the null findings in the ITT analysis, the TOT analysis showed promising results to strengthen positive parenting behaviors and beliefs and reduce child behavior problems.

Material Hardship in Families With Low Income: Positive Effects of Coparenting on Fathers' and Mothers' Parenting and Children's Prosocial Behaviors.

Families with low income experience high levels of economic insecurity, but less is known about how mothers and fathers in such families successfully navigate coparenting and parenting in the context of material hardship. The current study utilized a risk and resilience framework to investigate the underlying family processes linking material hardship and children’s prosocial behaviors in a sample of socioeconomically disadvantaged mother-father families with preschoolers from the Building Strong Families project (N = 452). Coparenting alliance and mothers’ and fathers’ responsive parenting were examined as mediators. Results of structural equation modeling showed that coparenting alliance was associated with higher levels of both mothers’ and fathers’ responsive parenting. Subsequently, both parents’ responsive parenting were associated with higher levels of children’s prosocial behaviors. Material hardship was not associated with coparenting alliance and either parent’s responsive parenting. Tests of indirect effects confirmed that the effects of coparenting alliance on children’s prosocial behaviors were mediated through both mothers’ and fathers’ responsive parenting. Overall, these results suggest that when mothers and fathers have a strong coparenting alliance, they are likely to withstand the negative effects of material hardship and thus engage in positive parenting behaviors that benefit their children’s prosocial development. Family strengthening interventions, including responsible fatherhood programs, would do well to integrate a strong focus on enhancing a positive coparenting alliance between mothers and fathers.

Parenting during the COVID-19 Lockdown in Portugal: Changes in Daily Routines, Co-Parenting Relationships, Emotional Experiences, and Support Networks.

The COVID-19 pandemic challenged parental resources pertinent to coping with lockdowns. The main objective of this work was to study parenting during the COVID-19 lockdown. Specifically at focus were parental behaviors concerning key domains for the family (daily routine, co-parenting, emotional experience, and support network) and changes related to the pandemic and associated with the parents’ employment statuses. An online survey was carried out through an ad hoc questionnaire where participants completed questions about their sociodemographic data and rated how much their family routines, their co-parenting relationship, their emotional experiences, and the support available in the family network varied on a 5-point scale. The participants included 1384 parents, of which 286 responded to open questions regarding impactful experiences during the lockdown. The results showed differences in daily routine, co-parenting, emotional experience, and support network according to the parents’ employment statuses. Between-group comparisons showed that at-home parents caring for children with governmental aids generally revealed more positive parenting behavior changes, while at-home parents who were teleworking reported more difficulties in parent-child activities and co-parenting. Furthermore, the content analysis of the data confirmed how important themes such as family dynamics, professional activities, and the relationship with the school community were throughout the participants’ accounts of gains and losses. Overall, parents’ employment statuses are associated with diverse experiences during lockdown. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of family resources and parental resilience, particularly during circumstances jeopardizing the ever-sensitive work-family balance.

Evaluating the Effect of Parent–Child Interactive Groups in a School-Based Parent Training Program: Parenting Behavior, Parenting Stress and Sense of Competence

The Exploring Together program is a group-based parent training program that comprises separate parent, child, and teacher components, and a combined parent–child interactive component. A cluster-randomized trial design was used to compare the Exploring Together program with (Exploring Together; ET) and without (Exploring Together-Adapted; ET-Adapted) the parent–child interactive component. One hundred and thirty-six parents and their children (aged 5–10 years) with externalizing and/or internalizing problems participated in the trial, recruited from primary schools. There was a significant reduction in negative parenting behavior across both treatment groups (ET and ET-Adapted) but no significant improvement in positive parenting behaviors. Parenting self-efficacy improved significantly across both treatment groups however there was no significant change in parenting satisfaction or parenting stress. There was no consistent evidence of superiority of one version of the Exploring Together program over the other. Further investigation regarding treatment dosage and mastery of parenting skills associated with the program is warranted.