Learning About Parenting Together: A Programme to Support Parents with Inter-generational Concerns in Pune, India

Abstract

Rapid developments in the last few decades have brought about dramatic changes in Indian social life, particularly affecting new middle-class families. Inter-generational conflicts, high academic pressures, and modern anxieties lead to stress both in parents and in children. There is a need for parenting programmes that respond to these specific concerns, in order to reduce parenting stress and improve family well-being. This study aimed to develop and evaluate a parenting programme in Pune, India, based on a ‘theory of change’. In this pilot programme, parents were encouraged to learn in a group format about fostering autonomy in children, promoting academic potential in a stress-free manner and remaining in connection with adolescents. Facilitated by a psychologist, parents participated in four sessions involving ‘creativity and play’, ‘self-awareness and bonding’, and ‘communication’. The intervention was based on validated psychotherapeutic approaches and parenting methods to support parents in their learning. Some 16 in-depth interviews were conducted with parents before and eight interviews after the intervention to understand their learning experiences. Additional feedback was gathered from observation notes and debriefings after each session. The results show that the attention for playful quality time helped parents to (re)gain a more creative and flexible attitude towards spending time with their children. Second, parents learned to reflect on their frameworks of meaning (rooted in their own upbringing), listen attentively and communicate more mindful with their children. Furthermore, this study shows that an activity-based approach, connecting parents in co-creating new parenting paradigms, while supporting them with stress-reducing tools, is a useful way of engaging this target group. The study concludes by offering new perspectives for counsellors working with families in countries undergoing rapid change.

Optimizing the development and evaluation of complex interventions: lessons learned from the BetterBirth Program and associated trial

“…By identifying which hypothesized causal links are thought to be of greatest importance to the intervention’s overall success (or, alternatively, are the subject of greatest uncertainty), TOCs help prioritize data collection and guide subsequent data analyses [ 2 , 25 , 26 , 33 ]. Testing for the existence of causal links hypothesized in the TOC can help identify ineffective intervention components, highlight incorrect assumptions about the underlying mechanism of change or context in which the intervention is being implemented, and inform future adaptions to the intervention [ 26 , 33 – 35 ]. TOCs can also be used to identify appropriate data sources and units of analysis for each variable and can highlight which data sources will need to be linked together for analysis [ 36 , 37 ].…”

Is the Parwarish parenting intervention feasible and relevant for young people and parents in diverse settings in India? A mixed methods process evaluation

“…Parenting in India has not been studied widely and a large systematic review examining interventions to reduce harsh parenting or promote positive parenting in low-income and middle-income countries could not identify any studies located in India 7. Studies examining parenting of adolescents in middle-class urban settings identify parenting is often authoritarian, extends until early adulthood, with a focus on educational attainment, and typically includes a high level of monitoring of the social behaviour of their teenagers (particularly young women) 8–10. However, we could find no interventional studies promoting positive parenting among disadvantaged adolescents in India.…”

“…7 Studies examining parenting of adolescents in middle-class urban settings identify parenting is often authoritarian, extends until early adulthood, with a focus on educational attainment, and typically includes a high level of monitoring of the social behaviour of their teenagers (particularly young women). [8][9][10] However, we could find no interventional studies promoting positive parenting among disadvantaged adolescents in India.…”

‘No, you should not beat our child because he will become aggressive:’ Applying a multi-method approach to explore intergenerational transmission of parenting practices

“…Literature related to family studies [ 36 – 41 ] in India is growing but several gaps in understanding specific dimensions of parenting, transmission of parenting from one generation to the next, or the cultural impact on parenting do exist. Traditionally parenting in India reflects the collectivistic hierarchical nature of society and emphasizes interdependency, deference to elders, obedience and conformity [ 42 ].…”