Parent Education and Discipline-Training Programs Research Paper

Introduction

Background Information

Many parent discipline-training programs strive to improve the quality of parenting practices, relative to their proficiency in reducing disruptive behaviors among their children (Hemmeter, Ostrosky, Artman, & Kinder, 2008). According to the Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health (1998), more than 800,000 families participate in such programs, annually, but few of them report on their progress in the course of the training period, or after the training period. The purpose of this paper is to research the effectiveness of various discipline-training programs and the variables that make them effective. Implications for parent education will be discussed.

Some key words and concepts used in this study follow:

• Program Efficacy – This is the ability of a training program to produce desirable effects in parent discipline training (McIlvenny, 2009).
• Child welfare – Child welfare is a system designed to guarantee child safety and to improve the capability of parents or guidance to care for their children (Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, 1998).
• Child Maltreatment – This concept refers to the poor treatment of children through the presence of physical or emotional harm. Child maltreatment often occurs when parents or guardians adopt behaviors that are outside the norms of conduct (Purdue University, 2014).
• Discipline – This term refers to attempts to correct undesirable social behaviors (disobedience) either through punishment or through other measures that could correct disobedience (Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, 1998).
• Parent Education – parent education refers to a purposive learning activity where parents seek to know or understand better ways of interacting with their children, for purposes of promoting positive behavioral traits among them (Croake & Glover, 1977).
• Child Behavior – This concept refers to how children conduct themselves when they interact with other people, or when they are by themselves (McIlvenny, 2009).

Historical Overview

In the past, private and government agencies have educated parents on different methods of interaction to promote positive behavioral changes among their children. Before the 1800s, information about parent education was disseminated from European experts to American mothers (Croake & Glover, 1977). The first documented record of a parent education meeting in America happened in 1815. These meetings mainly comprised of mothers. They often adopted a similar name – “maternal associations.” The main agenda in such meetings was to discuss child-rearing problems that the mothers faced (Croake & Glover, 1977).

Notable theories and models that have dominated this field include democratic parenting, therapeutic parenting, socially conscious parenting, and developmental parenting (Purdue University, 2014). These theories and models have used two focal points for developing parent education models. The first one is behavioral modification and the second one is democracy in child rearing activities. The future content of parent education is unknown, but experts agree most of them will probably have a group format. However, it is difficult to discern the efficacy of these efforts because of the changing social, political, and economic demographics of different societies. This is why it is important to constantly evaluate the effectiveness of parent discipline programs.

Statement of the Problem

Although there are different reviews of parent-training programs, most of them lack standardization and differ in scope. Similarly, some of the reviews that exist today are outdated and therefore irrelevant in understanding some of the problems facing various aspects of parental discipline today (Purdue University, 2014). Other reviews are contextual because their findings only apply to certain social contexts or countries.

Reviewing the effectiveness of discipline training programs is an important step in improving child welfare because the efficacy of the latter depends on the effectiveness of these programs. Different researchers have reviewed the efficacy of child welfare programs and found out that they are important in improving different aspects of a child’s cognitive and emotional development (McIlvenny, 2009).

For example, there is evidence that improving child welfare programs could equally improve a child’s intelligence quotient (Carter, 2011). Such knowledge is important in our research because it helps us to understand what training programs work (and do not work) for different families. For example, if courts understand what works and improves parent functioning, they could easily prescribe effective programs that would have the greatest effect on improving child welfare. The findings of this paper could provide guidance regarding how parents could improve their disciplinary functions.

Literature Review

In an article by Letarte, Normandeau, and Allard (2010), researchers evaluated the efficacy of a parent-training program for purposes of improving parental responses in disciplinary cases. The authors also intended to improve the parents’ perceptions of their children’s behaviors and their feelings of self-efficacy when engaging in such cases. The study sampled 35 parents who were in two groups. The first group consisted of the intervention group, which comprised of 26 parents. The rest were in a waiting group. The program implemented (incredible years) and lasted for four months.

The authors tested the efficacy of parent-child relationships, communication skills, and investigated parent support programs. To evaluate the effectiveness of parent training, the program used a repeated measures design. This method assessed parents’ feelings of self-efficacy, their perceptions of children’s behaviors, and their satisfaction levels with the program. The testing process occurred within a 19-week window where the researchers conducted two reviews for each participant. In the end, the researchers found that the training programs had a positive impact on parenting practices. The positive impact manifested through behavioral differences among parents, which included positive verbal discipline, fewer physical punishments and fewer harsh disciplinary practices (Letarte et al., 2010). However, the authors found no significant change on parents’ self-efficacy levels.

The researchers suggested that although there were significant challenges associated with implementing training programs, their findings could significantly improve parenting practices through the implementation of evidence-based parent-discipline programs (Letarte et al., 2010). The views contained in the article are insightful. However, they fail to tackle one important aspect of parental training program, which is the prevention of undesirable behaviors among children. Therefore, there is a need for future research to broaden the scope of analysis to include the prevention of undesirable behaviors, as opposed to tackling them when they happen.

McIlvenny (2009) conducted a study to analyze the communication of time-out during parent-child conflicts. The study had two main objectives. The first one was to investigate how a family assembles and coordinates its functions within the context of the family’s role as social structure for improving children’s upbringing and the second one was to investigate how parents discipline their children within the embodied activities of the family (McIlvenny, 2009).

To meet the above objectives, the researchers analyzed the behaviors of one family (Gwilliams family), which comprised of two parents and three children. The researcher observed the family’s behaviors through a British television program, known as The House of Tiny Tearaways (McIlvenny, 2009). The author conducted the research through a mediated discourse and conversation analysis and found out that although time-out had different characteristics; children could still contest or resist it (McIlvenny, 2009). The study also established that parent-child relationships are inter-spatial because a house’s architecture affects a parent’s disciplinary practices (McIlvenny, 2009).

Through his findings, McIlvenny (2009) suggested that the time-out concept could help to solve some of their children’s disciplinary problems if they chose the right occasion and conditions to do so. I believe these views are important in adding to the body of knowledge surrounding when to apply time-outs because they may only work in situations where a house has the right architecture for its application (where parents can create space and distance).

Caughya, Millerb, Genevrob, Huang, and Nautiyal (2003) investigated the efficacy of a parent discipline-training program, titled Healthy Steps, which strived to provide support to parents through disciplinary training. The researchers visited 432 families who had two age-sets of children (Caughya et al., 2003). The first group of children were aged between 16 and 18 months, while second group had children aged between 34 and 37 months.

Parents were supposed to state their disciplinary strategies before participating in the program. The researchers contrasted their self-reports with the outcomes of the program, which included assessing the input of a specialist who supervised the use of home visits, enhanced well-child visits, and telephone support initiatives as ways of improving parent-child relationships. The researchers used statistical methods to analyze data and found out that authoritative forms of discipline had profound effects on toddlers. This disciplinary form was present in the healthy steps initiative, but race, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity influenced parents’ disciplinary practices at pre-school level by varying its adoption across these demographics (Caughya et al., 2003).

Caughya et al. (2003) believed that their findings could improve parenting practices across different populations, as they emphasized the need to formulate interventions that addressed contextual and cultural differences across different cultural settings. For example, the study showed that African-Americans and Hispanics were less likely to use inductive disciplinary practices even after undergoing the Healthy Steps program. I believe these findings could shed more light regarding the efficacy of parent education programs across different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic divides.

Linares, Montalto, Rosbruch, and Li (2006) conducted a study to evaluate the disciplinary practices among biological and foster parents. The purpose of the study was to explore the role of parent, child and foster care ecology in developing disciplinary practices. The researcher included 62 pairs of parents. Linares et al. (2006) conducted the study by using self-reports of discipline practices after asking them how they would rate their disciplinary practices according to three definitive disciplinary types – positive, appropriate and harsh disciplinary practices.

The researchers found that biological and foster parents used similar levels of different disciplinary methods. They also found that positive cooperation between parents improved the effectiveness of their disciplinary strategies. They suggested that their findings could create a paradigm shift from simple presumptions of deficit in knowledge regarding parent education to modeling a supportive disciplinary framework by improving cooperation between foster and biological parents (Linares et al., 2006). Based on the nature of their study, I believe increased cooperation between foster and biological parents could help to improve the discipline of children raised in foster homes.

Portwood, Lambert, Abrams, and Nelson (2011) conducted a study to evaluate the effectiveness of a program titled, “Safe Kids Program,” which was supposed to protect children against maltreatment. The researchers collected data by asking parents to give their views regarding the program and its effects in helping to protect their children from violence and abuse. The researchers assigned parents into different groups of analysis. There were two groups – experimental and control groups. The experimental group comprised of 162 participants, which the comparison group comprised of 109 participants (Portwood et al., 2011).

The researchers used the experimental design to evaluate the efficacy of the safe kids training program. Their findings revealed that parents who underwent the safe kids program reported improved outcomes in parenting practices across several areas including verbal communication and physical communication because the program helped them to understand how to create environments, which protected children from violence.

The success of the study prompted the researchers to suggest its replication in different community settings (Portwood et al., 2011). Stated differently, they believed it was a successful model for improving positive parental responses to disciplinary issues. I also hold the same view because I believe the program provides a template for implementing effective discipline training programs across diverse community settings.

Saunders, McFarland-Piazza, Jacobvitz, Hazen-Swann, and Burton, R. (2013) conducted a study to evaluate the most effective methods of promoting supportive parenting. In the study, the researchers sampled 49 mother-child dyads. The evaluation method comprised of lecture-based only or lecture-based plus methods. In this analysis, the researchers evaluated the levels of success for supportive parenting by observing the behaviors of both sets of respondents (respondents who underwent lecture-based and lecture-based plus training methods) (Saunders et al., 2013).

They found no significant differences between the positive behaviors of the lecture-based only group verses the lecture-based plus group because neither of the two approaches promoted supportive parenting better than the other. They believe that their findings could contribute to the work of early childhood professionals who work with parents to improve their responses to disciplinary cases (Saunders et al., 2013). I also believe that the findings could have an impact in this regard, but it could also help to improve the design of parent support programs because they could provide a framework for improving parental responses to disciplinary issues.

Conclusion

This paper analyzed parent education as a key concept for improving children’s behavior and welfare. It formed the pinnacle for the development of child discipline. In this review, we analyzed different research articles that evaluated the efficacy of these programs. Key trends that emerged in this analysis include understanding the importance of contextual influences of parent education programs and improving parent-child communication.

Indeed, most of the articles sampled in this review highlighted the need for comprehending the effects of socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, age and other demographic factors and understanding how parents could better communicate with their children to impart positive behaviors in them (Letarte et al., 2010; Linares, Montalto, Rosbruch, & Li, 2006). These reviews formed the key findings of this study. Since these research findings are limited in scope, new research should address the guiding framework that influences parental motivations for pursuing different disciplinary strategies. This way, we would better understand the influencing factors that could affect the efficacy of discipline training programs.

Implications

The implications of this research focus on improving the effectiveness of parental discipline training programs. They are also instrumental in reducing cases of child abuse and improving the communication levels between parents and their children. Adopting some of the recommendations highlighted in this paper would help to improve the design of discipline training programs and improve child welfare practices as well.

References

Carter, D. (2011). Parenting Coordination: A Practical Guide for Family Law Professionals. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.

Caughya, M.O., Millerb, T.L., Genevrob, J., Huangc, K., & Nautiyal, C. (2003). The effects of Healthy Steps on discipline strategies of parents of young children. Applied Developmental Psychology, 24, 517–534.

Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health. (1998). Guidance for Effective Discipline. Pediatrics, 101(4), 723-728.

Croake, J., & Glover, K. (1977). A History and Evaluation of Parent Education. The Family Coordinator, 26(2), 151-158.

Hemmeter, M.L., Ostrosky, M., Artman, K., & Kinder, K. (2008). Planning Transitions to Prevent Challenging Behavior. Web.

Letarte, M., Normandeau, S., & Allard, J. (2010). Effectiveness of a parent training program “Incredible Years” in a child protection service. Child Abuse & Neglect, 34, 253–261.

Linares, L.O., Montalto, D., Rosbruch, N., Li, M. (2006). Discipline Practices Among Biological and Foster Parents. Child Maltreatment, 11(2), 157-167. Web.

McIlvenny, P. (2009). Communicating a ‘time-out’ in parent–child conflict: Embodied interaction, domestic space and discipline in a reality TV parenting programme. Journal of Pragmatics, 41, 2017–2032.

Portwood, S., Lambert, R.G., Abrams, L.P., & Nelson, E.B. (2011). An Evaluation of the Adults and Children Together (ACT) Against Violence Parents Raising Safe Kids Program. J Primary Prevent, 32, 147–160. Web.

Purdue University. (2014). Identifying Parenting Theories in Family Life Education Materials. Web.