Introduction. European Rational and Context

Promoting parenting support in Europe is one of the challenges addressed at present by the Council of Europe and other European organizations, such us The European Alliance for Families (EAF) (http://familieeuropa.de/european-alliance-for-families_en.html). In 2006 the Council launched the Recommendation 19 to Member States to organize any possible policies and measures to this aim. Research has shown the association between families' internal difficult dynamics and children's and youth's problems, as school failure, drug consumption, criminal behaviour, and others (Simons, Simons, & Wallace, 2004; Soenens, Vansteenkiste, Luyckx, & Goossens, 2006). Thus, it is expected that through parenting support these and other related problems are reduced. Among these problems, drop-out of school (Symeou, Martínez-González & Álvarez Blanco, 2012), early school leaving, poverty and social exclusion are of special attention in the European Commission (2011) and the Council of the European Union (2011).

Parenting support is seen as a new trend in Europe since the 1990s. European Member States, their regions and municipalities are trying to organize policies and measures to help parents to cope with their children's upbringing and education (Daly, 2011). Although there is a diversity of initiatives on the matter in each country, some common characteristics are identified across Europe (Daly, 2007). Among them, building community partnerships between different sectors working with and for children, youth and families (education, social services, health, associations, etc.) is outstanding. The objective is to offer information, guidance and support to parents on a universal base, no matter the diversity of circumstances families might face, as it is understood that all families would benefit from such support. The approach is educative, preventive and communitarian, taking into account all possible ecological system affecting human development (Bronfenbrenner, 1977)

Evidence-Based Parenting Programmes

Among the measures to promote positive parenting, training programmes are relevant to enable parents to reach competences and skills to effectively upbringing their children. Avoiding any kind of violence or maltreatment, and respecting children's rights to be raised in a caring family environment which contributes to their full social, emotional and intellectual development is expected.

Evaluating the effectiveness of training programmes in the social and educational fields is not a well developed practice yet (Ponzetti, 2016). Thus, reaching evidence of their results is needed in order to motivate positive parenting policies and their corresponding funding by the part of decision makers and politicians.

In this research, evidence and results obtained from applying the Programme-Guide to Develop Emotional, Educational and Parenting Competences (Martínez-González, 2009) published by the Spanish Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equity are examined  (Martínez-González, Pérez-Herrero, Álvarez-Blanco, Rodríguez-Ruíz, Becedóniz-Vázquez) The departing question for this research is to which extend parents participating in the Programme-Guide can benefit from it by improving their parenting competences and skills.

About the Programme-Guide to Develop Emotional, Educational and Parenting Competences (Martínez-González, 2009)

This programme looks for enhancing emotional and parental competences classified into six dimensions: 1) Parents’ Awareness of children’s developmental characteristics; 2) Parents’ Self-regulation abilities; 3) Parents’ Self-esteem and Assertiveness; 4) Parents’ Communication strategies; 5) Parents’ strategies to Solve conflicts and to Negotiate; and 6) Parents’ strategies to fix coherent Norms, Limits and Consequences to promote discipline. The methodology suggested is based on the participants' parental experiences, which they share by working cooperatively in small groups and through general discussions, following a socio-cultural approach to learning.

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1977). Toward an experimental ecology of human development. American Psychologist, 32 (7), 513-531. Council of Europe (2006). Recommendation Rec(2006)19 of the Committee of Ministers to Member States on Policy to Support Positive Parenting (Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 13 December 2006 at the 983rd meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies). Daly, M. (Ed.) (2007). Parenting in contemporary Europe: a positive approach, Strasbourg: Council of Europe. Daly, M. (2011). Building a coordinated strategy for parenting support. Synthesis report, Peer review on social protection and social inclusion. As of August 2012:http://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=7987&langId=en 37 Hermanns (2012). Martínez-González, R.A. (2009). Programa-Guía para el Desarrollo de Competencias Emocionales, Educativas y Parentales. Madrid: Ministerio de Sanidad y Política Social http://www.mspsi.es/politicaSocial/familiasInfancia/docs/programa2009_2.pdf Martínez González, R.A., Pérez Herrero, MªH., Álvarez Blanco, L., Rodríguez Ruíz, B. y Becedóniz Vázquez, C. (2015). Programa basado en evidencias para fomentar la parentalidad positiva en Asturias (España). En Mª J. Rodrigo López (Coord.), Manual práctico de parentalidad positiva (pp.151-168). Madrid: Editorial Síntesis. Ponzetti, J. J. (2016). Evidence-based Parenting Education: A Global Perspective. London, Routledge Symeou, L., Martínez-González, R-A. & Álvarez Blanco, L. (2012). Dropping out of high school in Cyprus: Do parents and the family matter? International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 17 (4) 1-19. DOI: 10.1080/02673843.2012.717899 Simons, R. L., Simons, L., & Wallace, E. (2004). Families, delinquency, and crime: Linking society's most basic institution to antisocial behavior. Los Angeles: Roxbury. Soenens, B., Vansteenkiste, M., Luyckx, K., & Goossens, L. (2006). Parenting and adolescent problem behavior: An integrated model with adolescent self-disclosure and perceived parental knowledge as intervening variables. Developmental Psychology, 42, 305–318.