Parent Education and Parent Training

Parent education (PE) refers to programs designed to enhance general parenting skills, usually independent of specific child behavior problems. Parent training (PT) is a general term that refers to several related interventions designed to help parents address child noncompliance and/or disruptive behaviors.

Both PE and PT programs promote parenting skills that are consistent with Baumrind's (1971) conceptualization of authoritative parenting (i.e., parenting that is responsive to the child's emotional needs, and yet requires child compliance with parents' instructions and directions). An impressive body of research suggests that authoritative parenting is associated with better child compliance, child psychosocial adjustment, and social competence. Longitudinal studies also indicate better long-term outcomes among children raised by authoritative parents, as compared to children of parents that use other child-rearing styles (e.g., ...