Promoting Positive Parenting Through the Programme-Guide to Develop Emotional, Educational and Parental Competences
Author(s):
Raquel-Amaya Martínez-González (presenting / submitting) Mª Teresa Iglesias-García Lucía Álvarez-Blanco Beatriz Rodríguez Ruiz Carlos Becedóniz-Vázquez María-del-Henar Perez-Herrero
Conference:
ECER 2013
Network:
14. Communities, Families and Schooling in Educational Research
Format:
Paper

Session Information

14 SES 05 B, Family Education and Parenting - Technological Aspects of School-Family-Community Partnerships

Paper Session

Time:
2013-09-11
11:00-12:30
Room:
BCEP
Chair:
Raquel-Amaya Martínez-González

Contribution

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).

Method

This research followed a one-group pretest-posttest design (pre-experimental design) aimed at exploring in a cost-effective way whether the Programme-Guide to Develop Emotional, Educational and Parental Competences (Martínez-González, 2009; 2011), published by the Spanish Ministry of Health and Social Policy, has some potential to promote positive parenting. If so, further investigation will be designed on the matter. The programme looks for enhancing emotional and parental competences, which were classified into seven dimensions: 1) Awareness of children’s developmental characteristics; 2) Self-regulation abilities; 3) Self-esteem and Assertiveness; 4) Emotions and Communication strategies; 5) Abilities to Listening and Expressing Themselves; 6) Strategies to solve conflicts and to negotiate; and 7) Norms, limits and consequences to promote discipline. The sample was composed of 141 Spanish parents of children from kindergarten to secondary school, who participated voluntarily in the programme mentioned, in some of the several editions it was run. The parents had similar socio-demografic characteristics across those editions. The number of parents attending each edition ranged from 8 to 20. All parents completed the same pretest and posttest questionnaire, which included answers on a four point Likert scale. The Cronbach Alpha (n=141, 43 items) for the pretest was .833 and for the posttest, .842.

Expected Outcomes

The data analysed through SPSS t Student test for related samples showed significant statistical differences in 30 out of the 43 items and indicators analyzed. After taking part in the programme, parents felt more competent in using both emotional self-regulation abilities and effective relationship strategies with their children. Parents informed their family atmosphere improved as an effect of the changes they experienced in their own behaviour after taking part in the programme. It seems convenient to follow the Council of Europe Recommendation (2006/19) guidelines with particular emphasis for professionals and practitioners on “building up parents’ self-confidence, enhancing their competencies and potential and motivating parents to be informed and trained” (p.6). This training can take the form of parenting programmes like the one discribed here. The results of these programmes should be evaluated to identify the improvements in parenting as well as the reductions in child’s dysfunctional behavior. In this regard, further quasi-experimental research desings including a non-intervention control group could be considered. It would also be interesting to check, as stated by Kanoy, Ulku-Steiner, Cox, & Burchinal (2003), to what extend the competences adquiered last in time as well as the positive effects on children’s behavior and family atmosphere.

References

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

Author Information

Raquel-Amaya Martínez-González (presenting / submitting)
Universidad de Oviedo
Departamento de Ciencias de la Educación
Oviedo
Mª Teresa Iglesias-García
Oviedo University
Sciences of Education
Oviedo
Lucía Álvarez-Blanco
Oviedo University, Spain
Beatriz Rodríguez Ruiz
UNED
Oviedo
Carlos Becedóniz-Vázquez
Children's Observatory in Asturias, Spain
María-del-Henar Perez-Herrero
Universidad de Oviedo (Spain)
Educational Sciences
Oviedo (Asturias)

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