Entry
Reader's guide
Entries A-Z
Subject index
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., authoritarian, in which parents demonstrate high levels of control but low levels of responsiveness; and permissive, in which parents demonstrate high levels of responsiveness but low levels of control).
While both PE and PT programs tend to promote authoritative parenting, as noted above, PT programs tend to be prescribed for parents of children with identified behavior problems, while PE programs are often seen as more preventative in nature, and are designed to enhance general parenting skills. This distinction has implications for the specific components of each type of program.
Parent Education
As the name implies, PE programs are didactic in nature, and may impart knowledge about children's physical, emotional, and social development; parenting skills; parenting stress management; and children's home and school environment. Programs vary in their emphasis, but may include specific instruction about discipline strategies, child education and school readiness, nutrition, appropriate expectations for child social and physical development, and family role expectations. Specialized PE programs have also been described for parents of children in higher-risk situations (e.g., children at risk for abuse, children with developmental delays, families undergoing divorce).
PE programs occur in both individual and group formats. Group PE programs may be advantageous for at least two reasons: They may be more cost-effective than individual sessions, and parents may find additional sources of social support via group membership. However, individual PE programs may offer some advantages as well. They may be more easily tailored to individual parent's needs, and be more flexibly scheduled than group sessions.
Regardless of format (i.e., group vs. individual) PE programs are generally led or facilitated by a mental health professional, developmental specialist, or health care provider (e.g., a nurse), although in some programs, trained parent educators may facilitate or cofacilitate PE groups. The group leader or facilitator provides information and solicits comments, usually with the goal of helping the learners make applications and generalize the material. This didactic orientation has been criticized, along with the term “Parent Education,” for perpetuating a power differential between the teacher and the learner (i.e., that the teacher is seen as the expert, and the parent/learner is seen as having little expertise). This view of parents is believed by some to undermine the parent's sense of authority and competence. Obviously, programs vary in the degree to which a power differential exists.
...
- Assessment
- Academic Achievement
- Adaptive Behavior Assessment
- Applied Behavior Analysis
- Authentic Assessment
- Behavioral Assessment
- Bias (Testing)
- Buros Mental Measurements Yearbook
- Career Assessment
- Classroom Observation
- Criterion-Referenced Assessment
- Curriculum-Based Assessment
- Fluid Intelligence
- Functional Behavioral Assessment
- Infant Assessment
- Intelligence
- Interviewing
- Mental Age
- Motor Assessment
- Neuropsychological Assessment
- Outcomes-Based Assessment
- Performance-Based Assessment
- Personality Assessment
- Portfolio Assessment
- Preschool Assessment
- Projective Testing
- Psychometric G
- Reports (Psychological)
- Responsiveness to Intervention Model
- Social–Emotional Assessment
- Sociometric Assessment
- Written Language Assessment
- Behavior
- Consultation
- Demographic Variables
- Development
- Diagnosis
- Disorders
- DSM-IV
- Adjustment Disorder
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Autism Spectrum Disorders
- Bipolar Disorder (Childhood Onset)
- Communication Disorders
- Conduct Disorder
- Depression
- Dyslexia
- Echolalia
- Fears
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder
- Learning Disabilities
- Mental Retardation
- Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder
- Oppositional Defiant Disorder
- Pedophilia
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
- Psychopathology in Children
- Reactive Attachment Disorder of Infancy and Early Childhood
- Selective Mutism
- Separation Anxiety Disorder
- Somatoform Disorders
- Stuttering
- Ethical/Legal Issues in School Psychology
- Family and Parenting
- Interventions
- Issues Students Face
- Learning and Motivation
- Legislation
- Medical Conditions
- Multicultural Issues
- Peers
- Prevention
- Reading
- Research
- School Actions
- School Personnel
- School Psychologist Roles
- Careers in School Psychology
- Consultation: Behavioral
- Consultation: Conjoint Behavioral
- Consultation: Ecobehavioral
- Consultation: Mental Health
- Counseling
- Diagnosis and Labeling
- Home–School Collaboration
- Multidisciplinary Teams
- Parent Education and Parent Training
- Program Evaluation
- Reports (Psychological)
- Research
- Responsiveness to Intervention Model
- School Reform
- School Psychology Organizations
- American Board of Professional Psychology
- American Psychological Association
- Council of Directors of School Psychology Programs
- Division of School Psychology (Division 16)
- International School Psychology Association
- Licensing and Certification in School Psychology
- National Association of School Psychologists
- School-Related Terms
- School Types
- Schools as Organizations
- Special Education
- Statistical and Measurement Terms
- Student Problematic Behavior
- Technology
- Loading...
Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL
-
Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life -
Read modern, diverse business cases
-
Explore hundreds of books and reference titles
Read next
More like this
Sage Recommends
We found other relevant content for you on other Sage platforms.
Have you created a personal profile? Login or create a profile so that you can save clips, playlists and searches