A parenting education program delivered to a sample of parents of young children aged 3–12 years who often used negative behavior control strategies to discipline their children was evaluated for effectiveness using a quasi-experimental design. Parents ( n = 150) who received parenting education program intervention program for 8 weeks (weekly 2 hr session) were compared with parents ( n = 150) who did not go through the program. The program’s effectiveness was evaluated with regard to changes in parental disciplinary behavior through observation of parent–child interactions during home visits. Data were collected across three time periods using home observation checklist. Significant improvements in parenting skills were observed as many parents were seen using verbal praise and other positive strategies in dealing with their children; a feat that was lacking before to intervention. The analysis of covariance revealed a significant treatment effect on parenting behavior F(2, 248) = 23.39, p < .05, with the intervention parents demonstrating greater ability to use positive behavior control strategies than did the comparison parents. The magnitude of the effect size was medium (partial η² = .072). This effect persisted over a 12-week follow-up period. These findings indicated that the parenting education program could be effective in helping parents improve their parenting skills and support the parents in creating a safe and supportive home environment that prevent children’s exposure to physical abuse.
While parental harsh disciplining of children is a global concern, children living in Nigeria often experience particularly high levels of harsh discipline. Constrained by the lack of parenting skills to effectively manage children, most Nigerian parents rely too heavily on the use of violent methods in the disciplining of their children, which poses a huge threat to their well-being and development. Given the high levels of harsh parenting and the lack of understanding of its harms, we set out to develop a program of intervention called Psychoeducational parenting program to prevent violence against children (PEPVAC), guided by psychological principles of social learning theory, to help parents reverse the trend. We tested the effectiveness of the program using a quasi-experimental design with questionnaire and observation as data collection tools. Participants were 300 parents of children age 3-12 years, who endorsed using harsh discipline. Parents (n = 150) who received the 8-week intervention were compared with parents in the control group (n = 150). A mixed-model ANOVA revealed that the PEPVAC parents demonstrated a reduced use of harsh disciplinary tactics and a decreased incidence of parents beating their children compared to parents in the control group who continued with business-as-usual. Findings suggest that PEPVAC can be a useful intervention tool in the prevention of punitive violence against children, especially in a culturally-oriented country like Nigeria with over 91 million population of children who are at risk of disciplinary violence in the home.
Despite the growing research that demonstrates that the use of corporal punishment with children is harmful, many Nigerian parents still utilise such methods without realising the implications. Because of lack of a strong evidence‐based programme to serve local needs, we developed a community‐based parenting education programme (PEP) to help parents reduce violent discipline and learn more positive strategies of dealing with children. Using a quasi‐experimental design in which six communities were selected from different regions across Nigeria, three as the intervention and three as the control, we tested the effectiveness of the programme with 300 parents of children aged 3–12. Parents in the intervention communities (n = 150) were exposed to 8‐week PEP intervention session on a 2‐hour weekly basis. Parents in the control communities (n = 150) were given a placebo treatment. Data were collected through questionnaires and observation. Findings revealed positive changes in parental beliefs, attitudes and practices about child‐rearing. Significant reductions were observed in the frequency with which parents used corporal punishment, and adopting more positive methods in dealing with their children including verbal praise and redirecting; a feat that was lacking prior to intervention. Effect sizes associated with the gains in parental outcomes were in the medium to large range (0.62—0.84). Comparison of means of pre‐, post‐ and delayed intervention measures showed greater gains by the intervention group. These findings provided empirical support for wider implementation of the PEP programme, which would help many more parents become more effective in their parenting in ways that support their children's optimal development.
This guide accompanies the following article: Ofoha, D., Ogidan, R. and Saidu, R., Child discipline and violence in Nigeria: A community‐based intervention programme to reduce violent discipline and other forms of negative parenting practices, Review of Education, https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.3128
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