Predictors of Change in Stepping Stones Triple Interventions: The Relationship between Parental Adjustment, Parenting Behaviors and Child Outcomes

Abstract

The current study explored the process of change in Stepping Stones Triple P (SSTP) using a community-based sample of 891 families of children with developmental disabilities (DD) who participated in an SSTP intervention at a community level. A preliminary analysis of outcome data indicated that SSTP intervention was effective in reducing parental adjustment difficulties, coercive parenting, and children’s behavioral and emotional difficulties immediately after the intervention. The effects were maintained at 12-month follow-up. The results also indicated that change in parental adjustment over the course of intervention was significantly associated with a change in parenting behaviors. However, change in parenting behaviors but not change in parental adjustment, predicted children’s behavioral and emotional problems following the intervention. The results suggest that positive parenting skills are the most salient ingredient driving the change in child behaviors in SSTP interventions.

Early Family Experiences, Drug Use, and Psychosocial Adjustment across the Life Span: Is Parental Strictness Always a Protective Factor?

“…Adolescents from authoritative families, characterized by strictness in combination with warmth, are the only ones who show the highest levels of well-being and health (children from authoritarian families have internal problems such as low self-concept and self-confidence due to low parental warmth). Many of the psychosocial programs and interventions are aimed at parents ( Arruabarrena et al, 2022 ; Sanders et al, 2022 ), especially when they have very young children ( Linhares et al, 2022 ; Callejas et al, 2020 ), but also at adolescents ( Cutrin et al, 2021 ). Mainly on the basis of this research with European-American families, psychosocial intervention policies and programs have been based on teaching and promoting strategies characterized by the use of parental strictness in combination with parental warmth to help educators, parents, and children (e.g., the Triple P program; see Sanders et al, 2022 ).…”

“…Many of the psychosocial programs and interventions are aimed at parents ( Arruabarrena et al, 2022 ; Sanders et al, 2022 ), especially when they have very young children ( Linhares et al, 2022 ; Callejas et al, 2020 ), but also at adolescents ( Cutrin et al, 2021 ). Mainly on the basis of this research with European-American families, psychosocial intervention policies and programs have been based on teaching and promoting strategies characterized by the use of parental strictness in combination with parental warmth to help educators, parents, and children (e.g., the Triple P program; see Sanders et al, 2022 ).…”

Which is the optimum parenting for adolescents with low vs. high self-efficacy? Self-concept, psychological maladjustment and academic performance of adolescents in the Spanish context

“…These findings of the present study contrast clearly with those obtained in those with European-American samples (Lamborn et al, 1991;Steinberg et al, 1994) in which the benefits of parental warmth are associated with the combination of high parental strictness (i.e., authoritative style). Second, parental strictness, widely used in prevention science with families (e.g., Triple P-Positive Parenting Program, (Sanders et al, 2022), especially during adolescence, may be unnecessary and even detrimental. In line with the results of the present study and others from European countries (Calafat et al, 2014;Garcia et al, 2020b), prevention with families should be based on programs that promote the use of warmth, but without being accompanied by the use of parental strictness (e.g., the frequent use of punishment as a form of correction).…”

Parental Socialization and Adjustment Components in Adolescents and Middle-Aged Adults: How are They Related?

“…According to the present findings, the use of parental strictness seems unnecessary or even detrimental, despite the fact that it is widely identified as beneficial in previous studies conducted primarily with European-American parents 23 and widely recommended in interventions with families. 116 Current interventions may not be effective, at least in the European context, where, according to some emerging research, children benefit especially when they have relationships with their parents based on love, affection, and dialogue, but not on strict parenting practices. 117,118 Interestingly, most interventions with families in professional practice are with adolescent children, partly because that is when they are likely to have the most problems.…”