Parents' classes improve children's conduct

Project

Playing Up

Purpose

To help parents learn how to deal with children’s difficult behaviour

Funding

Playing Up costs about £2,000 for a five-to six-week programme. The scheme is funded via Somerset County Council’s early intervention grant

Background

Tackling difficult behaviour in young children can be stressful for parents, and children’s centre managers in Somerset were keen to ensure they were providing the best information and advice.

Educational psychologists at the county council – led by senior specialist educational psychologist Lynne Juniper – devised a six-week programme for parents of children from birth to five delivered via children’s centres. “We were looking at providing something using psychological methods to reach out to parents who were finding children’s behaviour difficult in the early years,” explains Becky Louise Butcher, educational psychologist and co-ordinator of Playing Up.

In addition, the programme was designed to help the council’s early years advisers fulfil statutory obligations to ensure settings were supporting children’s social and emotional development.

Action

Playing Up started in 2008 and was tested at one children’s centre before being extended to others. Parents are recruited by children’s centre staff who recommend the course to mums and dads that are struggling with some aspect of a child’s behaviour.

The programme consists of six two-hour weekly sessions, each based around a different age range or stage of development. The sessions cover topics such as brain development, the importance of play and a child’s understanding of the world.

A crèche is provided so children are cared for while parents do the course. Sessions are run by at least one trained educational psychologist.

Usually, a family support worker or member of centre staff sits in and can then act as an ongoing point of contact for families between sessions.

The sessions feature a variety of techniques to help parents think differently about dealing with difficult situations and boost their confidence, such as cognitive behavioural therapy and “solution-focused” approaches.

“We want them to feel empowered. This is basically about them having some different tools to deal with challenges,” says Butcher. “A key part of the programme is getting parents to see children’s behaviour as communication so it is about trying to look behind that behaviour and look at what the child is communicating.”

Outcome

The project was independently evaluated by Geoff Morgan as part of his doctorate in educational, child and community psychology at the University of Exeter. A group of 38 parents took part in the study. Those reporting moderate to extremely severe stress was 4.42 times higher than what would be expected of a typical group of British parents. Behaviour problems were 5.9 times higher and conduct problems nine times higher than what would be expected.

The majority of parents completed both before- and after- questionnaires. Sixty-two per cent reported reduced behaviour problems since attending the course. Parents also reported a significant decrease in their own stress. The mean average for parent stress before the programme was 17.92, down to 14.48 after.

Meanwhile, 81 per cent said their personal confidence had improved and there was a significant increase in how parents rated their “self-agency or efficacy” – their belief in their abilities as a parent – from 3.38 to 3.72. Eighty-one per cent reported changing the way they interacted with their children and 87 per cent said they had changed their parenting in terms of planning and consistency in routines and boundaries. There were also statistically significant differences in how parents evaluated their children’s difficulties using a strengths and difficulties questionnaire, with the total mean score of 19.59 beforehand and 14.28 afterwards.

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