Children’s school failure, absenteeism, drop-out of high school, drug consumption or misbehavior, are some of the social problems frequently described in socio-educative European studies and reports (Martínez-González, Symeou, Álvarez-Blanco, Roussounidou, Iglesias-Muñiz, & Cao Fernández, 2008; Symeou, Martínez-González, & Álvarez  Blanco, 2012). Together with other factors, these problems are associated frequently with poor parenting and the key role families play in their children’s upbringing (Aviezer, Sagi-Schwartz, & Koren-Karie, 2003).  At an European level, the Council of Europe Recommendation (2006/19) on Policies to Promote Positive Parenting recognizes that parenting, though linked to family intimacy, should be consider as well as a context of public policy. From this perspective, all the necessary measures should be adopted for supporting parenting and creating the conditions necessary for positive parenting. The European Council recommends that the governments of member states acknowledge the essential nature of families and of the parental role and create the necessary conditions for positive parenting in the best interests of the child. In this European Recommendation, “Positive parenting refers to parental behaviour based on the best interests of the child that is nurturing, empowering, non-violent and provides recognition and guidance which involves setting of boundaries to enable the full development of the child” (p.2).

Given this framework, the study we are presenting here looks for some answers to the following questions associated to positive parenting(Arcus, Schvaneveldt & Moss, 1993; Brock, Oertwein & Coufal, 1993): are parents well prepared to give the expected support and to keep a warm relationship with their children, do they show responsiveness towards uprearing their children, do they show consistent or rigid and punishing rearing practices?

The main objective of this study is to analize to what extend parents can benefit from taking part in the parenting programme designed by Martínez-González (2009), devoted to enhance emotional and parenting competences.This study is associated to a broader one granted by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (EDU2012-38074).

Arcus, M.E., Schvaneveldt, J.D. & Moss, J.J. (Eds.) (1993). Handbook of Family Life Education. The practice of Family Life Education. London: Sage Publications. Aviezer, O., Sagi-Schwartz, A., & Koren-Karie, N. (2003). Ecological constraints on the formation of infant–mother attachment relations: When maternal sensitivity becomes ineffective. Infant Behavior and Development, 26, 285–299. Brock, G.W.; Oertwein, M. & Coufal, J.D. (1993). Parent Education. Theory, Research and Practice, en M.E. Arcus, J.D. Schvaneveldt & J.J. Moss (Eds.). Handbook of family life education. Vol.2.: The practice of family life education. London: Sage Publications. 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). Kanoy, K., Ulku-Steiner, B., Cox, M., & Burchinal, M. (2003). Marital relationship and individual psychological characteristics that predict physical punishment of children. Journal of Family Psychology, 17, 20–28. 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. (2011). Présentation du Programme-Guide pour le Développement des Compétences Émotionnelles, Éducatives et Parentales. Revue Internationale de l´Education Familiale, Especial Issue: Les Programmes de Formation et de Soutien des Parents (Coord. Pere Amorós Marti) 30, 17-38 Martínez-González, R-A. Symeou, L., Álvarez-Blanco, L., Roussounidou, E., Iglesias-Muñiz, J.C., & Cao Fernández, M.A. (2008). Family involvement in the education of potential drop-out children: A comparative study between Spain and Cyprus. Educational Psychology, 28 (5) 505-520. 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