Parent Communications Training across Three Stages of Childrearing

Abstract

Parents with a target child in one of three separate stages (preschool, school age and early adolescence) were contrasted on their reported changes in parenting skills and their child's behavior following communications training. No significant differences were found between the three groups of parents in their reported improvement in their own parenting skills. However, parents with adolescents reported fewer changes in the target child's behaviors than parents of preschoolers and school-age children in such behaviors as cooperativeness, demandingness, and acceptance of rules. In contrast to previous parent behavioral training programs which typically found performance oriented teaching methods to be most valued by parents, the present study identified peer group discussion as a highly valued activity for parents in a communication training workshop. However, parents' ratings of the value of performance oriented components were found to be significant predictors of reported improvements in parenting skills following the training experience.