Assessing Parent Education Programs for Families Involved with Child Welfare Services

Abstract

Parent education programs may be offered or mandated at various stages of the child welfare services continuum. However, little is known regarding their efficacy in addressing the parenting problems that bring families to the attention of child welfare services. This article synthesizes outcome data generated from 58 parenting programs with families determined to be at-risk of child maltreatment and/or abusive or neglectful. It places parent education programs within the broader context of research on effective parenting as well as the leading etiological models of child maltreatment to assess the evaluations of these programs with regard to methodological rigor as well as theoretical salience. Practical and theoretical implications are presented along with recommendations for future research.

Parent Education for Migrant Mothers of Left‐Behind Children in China: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

“…According to the results of a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of parent education programs for families involved with child welfare services undertaken by Johnson et al (2008), parental cognitions (e.g., parents' self-perception, sense of competence, and attributions), the quality of parent-child interactions, and parenting behaviors are critical levers during interventions. According to the results of a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of parent education programs for families involved with child welfare services undertaken by Johnson et al (2008), parental cognitions (e.g., parents' self-perception, sense of competence, and attributions), the quality of parent-child interactions, and parenting behaviors are critical levers during interventions.…”

“…The clinical significance of the study can be understood with reference to other parent education programs for mothers who are forced to parent at a distance from their children. According to the results of a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of parent education programs for families involved with child welfare services undertaken by Johnson et al (2008), parental cognitions (e.g., parents' self-perception, sense of competence, and attributions), the quality of parent-child interactions, and parenting behaviors are critical levers during interventions. Their review also suggests that a dual focus on parental cognitions and parenting practices should be activated in parent education programs for mothers involved with child welfare services.…”

The state of evidence-based parenting interventions for parents who are substance-involved

“…Even when parents who are substance-involved also are receiving child welfare services, there is evidence that the quality and intensity of parenting education programs are variable. Further, many of the existing efficacy studies are of low quality (31).…”

Educação parental com famílias maltratantes: Que potencialidades?

“…Os problemas metodológicos que lhes têm sido associados, nomeadamente quanto às reduzidas dimensões das amostras, à ausência de procedimentos de controlo do efeito da intervenção (Allin, Wathen, & MacMillan, 2005;Dore & Lee, 1999;Johnson et al, 2006) e à ausência de recolha de dados sobre a reincidência do mal trato (Barlow, Johnston, Kendrick, Polnay, & Stewart-Brown, 2006, citados por Jouriles et al, 2010;MacMillan et al, 2009) têm suscitado diversas críticas à investigação efetuada nesta área. Por outro lado, ao nível dos resultados, estes apontam para uma fraca evidência empírica dos programas de educação parental na prevenção de mau trato infantil, designadamente quando o objetivo primordial da intervenção se centra na eliminação dos comportamentos abusivos (MacMillan et al, 2009).…”

“…Por outro lado, ao nível dos resultados, estes apontam para uma fraca evidência empírica dos programas de educação parental na prevenção de mau trato infantil, designadamente quando o objetivo primordial da intervenção se centra na eliminação dos comportamentos abusivos (MacMillan et al, 2009). Contudo, um olhar mais pormenorizado aos estudos de revisão sobre esta temática aponta para a existência de mudanças positivas no que concerne à saúde mental dos pais, relação pais-filhos e problemas sociais após a frequência de programas de educação parental (Dore & Lee, 1999;Johnson et al, 2006), reforçando, assim, as potencialidades destes programas na promoção de relações mais saudáveis e positivas na família e contribuindo fortemente para a diminuição do risco do mau trato infantil ou da sua reincidência. Dore e Lee (1999), num estudo sobre a eficácia dos programas de educação parental para pais com elevado risco de mau trato infantil, apontam para o facto de existirem evidências empíricas dos benefícios deste tipo de intervenção, pelo menos a curto prazo, sobretudo quando trabalhamos com crianças que apresentam problemas de comportamento específicos, ou com pais que possuem capacidades cognitivas e recursos internos suficientes que lhes permitem incorporar novas aprendizagens e novas formas de interação.…”