This thesis has considered findings from evaluations of parenting programmes which have traditionally used outcome measures of negative affect and behaviour to measure change. Drawing on the considerable body of research on parenting programmes and their theoretical basis Paper 1 advances a line of argument about the potential for incorporating measures developed from research in the area of positive psychology. Extending outcomes of interest to incorporate measures of positive affect, attitudes and behaviour has the potential to contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms of change. No studies of parenting programmes using positive outcome measures were identified. Paper 1 concludes that future research of parenting programmes could begin to investigate the role of positive emotions as mechanisms of change. Paper 2 aimed to examine session-by-session changes in gratitude, positive and negative affect, satisfaction, authenticity, self-efficacy, defeat and entrapment in parents attending a Triple P Positive Parenting program. This study found that entrapment had a significant concurrent relationship with gratitude, negative and positive affect, authenticity, and satisfaction with life. Entrapment was also found to be a significant predictor of session by session change with lower levels of entrapment predicting increases in gratitude, negative and positive affect, and satisfaction. The study concludes that reductions in entrapment are a significant predictor of increases in positive affect and attitudes in carers attending a parenting programme. Paper 3 is a critical reflection and considers both Paper 1 and Paper 2. Within this paper the approaches used, the challenges encountered, and future research are considered.

Chronic tic disorders (CTDs), including Tourette’s disorder and persistent motor or vocal tic disorder, are neurobiological conditions affecting an estimated 3 to 4 percent of children and adolescents. These disorders include the presence of motor and/or phonic tics, which can range in number, frequency, and severity. Although CTDs are typically treated through medications, the available medications have the potential of adverse side effects, do not result in long-term coping strategies, and may not be effective or preferable for all individuals. Habit reversal training (HRT), a behavioral intervention for tics, has been identified as a well-established treatment. The purpose of habit reversal is to build an individual’s awareness of his or her tics and disrupt tics through developing a competing behavioral response. One avenue or service delivery that has not yet been explored for individuals with CTDs is use of a parent-mediated approach to habit reversal. Parent-mediated interventions have been used successfully with children with challenging behavior and autism. They are based on a triadic model, in which a therapist works directly with a parent to teach the therapeutic techniques. Parents, in turn, work directly with their children while receiving feedback from the therapist. The current study investigated a parent-mediated habit reversal intervention for the treatment of chronic tic disorders in two children. A delayed multiple baseline design was used. Baseline data were collected for three sessions. Intervention was delivered over six sessions, during which time coaching was faded. Follow up data collection occurred one month after the end of treatment. Based on changes in parental fidelity of implementation from baseline to intervention, this study provides preliminary evidence for parents being trained as therapists and providing habit reversal training strategies to their children. This treatment was reported as acceptable by both parent participants and by one of the child participants. Treatment motivation remained high and stable throughout baseline, intervention, and follow up. Child motivation was more variable during baseline, intervention, and follow up. Tic severity was also variable and more research would be needed to determine the impact of treatment for tics. Limitations and implications for future research are provided.

Early numeracy skills are related to children’s later mathematics and reading skills. Early interventions that target parent-child numeracy practices may be an effective way to promote these skills in young children. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a home numeracy environment (HNE) intervention in increasing preschool children’s early numeracy skills through a randomized controlled trial. The intervention was designed to incorporate practices that have been shown to improve children’s numeracy development, in addition to a number of practices that have been shown to lead to effective outcomes for parenting interventions more broadly. Parents were randomly assigned to participate in either the HNE intervention or an active comparison condition. Both groups of parents attended a brief informational meeting and received daily text messages for four weeks; parents in the intervention group received information about the importance of early mathematics development and strategies for incorporating numeracy into their children’s daily routines and parents in the active comparison condition received information on general development in preschool. Before and after the intervention, parents completed a questionnaire on their numeracy beliefs and practices, and children were assessed on their early numeracy skills. Findings indicate that, compared to parents in the comparison condition, parents who participated in the intervention reported more frequent direct HNE activities and their children showed greater improvement on numeracy skills. There were no group differences on beliefs of importance of math, self-efficacy for teaching math, or engagement in indirect HNE practices. The study provides initial evidence that a brief HNE intervention is feasible for parents to implement and is effective in improving preschool children’s numeracy skills.

Abundant research describes the prevalence of parenting stress among parents of children with disabilities. Children with disabilities requiring specialized instruction receive special education programming, but this factor can exacerbate stress in parents and interfere with positive mental health and family relationships. In school settings, intervention is directed at the student but fails to address the contextual day-to-day needs of parents experiencing greater stressors. There is scant evidence of the use or presence of structured, manualized intervention programs in schools to address the intense needs of parents of children with disabilities or of occupational therapy-led interventions on behalf of the parent as they emotionally process new special education programming territory. A strong sense of coherence (SOC) is important in positive parenting, health, and wellness. Low SOC has been associated with depression and stress and low parental coping capability. The SOC theory is valuable in explaining differences in individuals’ capacities to positively adapt to life challenges. A school-based, educational parent-intervention program, framed by a salutogenic SOC theory approach, which occurs during the school year, may prove useful to address parents’ diminished meaningful life occupations resulting from increased stress or lowered SOC. This inquiry aims to examine the relevance, need, and benefit of a school-based parental-intervention program for parents of children with disabilities, the Sense of Coherence Uplifting Parent Participation in Everyday Resilience (SUPPER) program. Its intended purpose is to provide a special-education-based, parent-support and -empowerment group for parents of children receiving special education programming and supports.

Previous research has suggested that depressive disorders are common in youth and are associated with many negative outcomes. As a result, understanding how to treat depression effectively is very important. It is unclear; however, what factors predict treatment success or failure for depressed youth. Researchers are starting to investigate whether comorbid anxiety is a possible moderator of treatment outcome for youth with depression. Studies of the relation between comorbid anxiety and treatment outcome have produced mixed findings and have almost exclusively focused on older depressed adolescents. There is also limited research exploring whether parent intervention moderates the effect of comorbid anxiety on treatment outcome in depressed youth. This study focused on investigating the relation between comorbid anxiety and treatment outcome in a sample of 84 depressed female early adolescents who received either group cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or group CBT plus a parent intervention. The addition of parent intervention was explored as a moderator of the relation between anxiety and treatment outcome. Treatment outcome was measured by changes in depression severity and global functioning during treatment. The depression severity and global functioning scores of depressed girls with comorbid anxiety were also compared to depressed girls without comorbid anxiety prior to treatment to determine whether the first group of girls entered treatment with a different level of psychopathology. Participants and their primary caregivers were administered a semi-structured diagnostic interview which was used as a measure of depression severity, global functioning, anxiety severity, and to determine whether participants met diagnostic criteria for depressive and anxiety diagnoses. The results of this study suggested that depressed youth with comorbid anxiety or higher anxiety severity started out treatment with higher depression severity and lower functioning. Results also suggested that comorbid anxiety was not related to negative treatment outcome and that youth with comorbid anxiety actually experienced larger reductions in depression severity over the course of treatment than youth without comorbid anxiety. Parent intervention did not significantly moderate the effect of comorbid anxiety on treatment outcome. The study’s limitations, implications of the results, and recommendations for future research were discussed. / text

The current project examines the parenting practices of African-American parents through a culturally relevant intervention framework and proposes a model of empowerment that can serve as a point of reference for counselors, educators and social workers, when engaging these parents about their parenting practices, school involvement and patterns of self-care. The present research is a pilot evaluation of a culturally specific parent empowerment intervention for parents of African-American children - The Black Lemonade Project (BL). This sample is comprised of parents and primary caregivers of school aged children in the Cleveland and Canton, Ohio Public School District who consented to participate in a two part Black Lemonade Empowerment Intervention. A total of 69 parents attended an 8 week (Phase I and Phase II) Black Lemonade Empowerment Intervention. Parents completed an Informed Consent to Participate, The Participant Questionnaire and the Parent Empowerment Inventory (PEI) and the Family Activities of Daily Living Questionnaire (FADL) at pre and post assessment points. During the Phase I conference, parents also completed the Parent Stress Index (PSI). The research questions asked about the perceived concerns, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors that parents who volunteer to attend a culturally specific parenting program hold. Results indicated a discrepancy across parents concerns, beliefs and behaviors. Implications for future research are discussed. / Counseling Psychology

Childhood obesity is a serious health problem in the United States. Numerous weight management programs attempt to address this issue. However, attrition poses significant treatment efficacy challenges. Understanding attendance and attrition from childhood obesity programs is crucial for effective and appropriate resource utilization. NOURISH+ is a community-based treatment program for parents of overweight and obese children (age 5–11 years, BMI ≥ 85th percentile). The current study investigated attrition from NOURISH+ to enhance understanding of pediatric obesity treatment retention factors. NOURISH+ participants (n=70) completed a questionnaire assessing barriers to adherence and general program feedback. Data were analyzed using frequencies, descriptive statistics, correlation, regression, and qualitative analyses. Practical barriers were commonly endorsed attendance impediments. This study highlights the significant barriers parents must overcome to partake meaningfully in a group parenting obesity intervention. Results could inform the delivery, acceptability, and feasibility of parent-focused interventions for overweight or obese children in urban environments.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, 2010. / Title from screen (viewed on May 3, 2010). School of Social Work, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Advisor(s): Margaret E. Adamek, Valerie N. Chang, Nancy Chism, Rebecca S. Sloan, Lorraine Blackman, Matthew C. Aalsma. Includes vitae. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 216-241).

Interaction is an important aspect for children’s language development. The intervention model Prevention Education Program for Parents (PEPP) is currently under development within the research project Ord gör skillnad, Karolinska Institutet. PEPP is an intervention for parents to children aged 0–12 months who’s recently been diagnosed with hearing impairment. In PEPP parents receive guidance based on the child’s language environment which is mapped through Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) and video analysis. LENA is a speech processing technological tool that analyzes the child’s language environment. The video analysis is made manually based on short video records of interactions between child and parent. The purpose of this study was to evaluate these mapping methods reliabilities to measure verbal conversational turns. The study also aimed to investigate if there’s a pattern between the amount of verbal conversational turns in a structured playtime and in the home environment. Four families with children aged 0:26–7:3 months participated. The child and parent interacted in a structured playtime that was analyzed with LENA and video analysis. Each family also made a LENA recording for an entire day in their home environment. The amount of verbal conversational turns in the structured playtime was analyzed by two assessors through video analysis. Inter-rater reliability was calculated, and a qualitative assessment was made for intervals in which the inter-rater reliability was <80%. The conformity between video analysis and LENA in the structured playtime was calculated. Further, a comparison was made between the amount of verbal conversational turns measured with LENA in home environment and structured environment. The inter-rater reliability in this study was high and in the qualitative assessment aggravating factors were identified. The conformity between video analysis and LENA analysis of the structured playtime was moderate. The amount of verbal conversational turns was higher for all participants in the structured environment compared to the home environment. This study indicates that video analysis is a reliable method. However, the aggravating aspects should be remedied in order to increase the reliability. The results confirm previous findings that demonstrate limitations with LENA’s ability to measure conversational turns in young infants. This study indicates that the number of conversational turns is higher in structured environments. To ensure the results in this study further research should be conducted. / Barn lär sig språket i interaktion med sin omgivning. Föräldrainterventionen Prevention Education Program for Parents (PEPP) utvecklas inom forskningsprojektet Ord gör skillnad, Karolinska Institutet. I PEPP handleds föräldrar till barn i åldrarna 0–12 månader med nyligen upptäckt hörselnedsättning kring samspel och kommunikation. Handledningen baseras på barnets språkmiljö som mäts med kartläggningsmetoderna Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) och videoanalys. LENA är ett talprocessande teknologiskt verktyg som beskriver barnets språkmiljö genom automatisk analys. Videoanalysen sker manuellt av bedömare utifrån korta videoinspelningar av samspel mellan barn och förälder. Föreliggande studie syftade till att utvärdera dessa kartläggningsmetoders pålitlighet i mätning av verbala turtagningar. Vidare syftade studien till att undersöka eventuella mönster mellan antal verbala turtagningar i hemmiljö och strukturerad miljö. Fyra familjer med barn i åldrarna 0:26–7:3 månader deltog. Barn och förälder samspelade under en strukturerad leksituation som analyserades med LENA och videoanalys. Varje familj gjorde även en heldagsinspelning med LENA i hemmiljö. Antal verbala turtagningar i den strukturerade leksituationen analyserades av två bedömare med videoanalys. Interbedömarreliabilitet räknades ut och en kvalitativ bedömning genomfördes på intervall med interbedömarreliabilitet <80 %. Samstämmigheten mellan videoanalysen och LENA beräknades gällande den strukturerade leksituationen. Vidare jämfördes antal turtagningar mätt med LENA i hemmiljö och strukturerad miljö. Resultatet visade på en hög interbedömarreliabilitet i videoanalysen och i den kvalitativa bedömningen identifierades försvårande aspekter. Samstämmigheten mellan videoanalysen och LENA var måttlig. Antalet turtagningar var genomgående högre i den strukturerade leksituationen jämfört med hemmiljö. Studien tyder på att videoanalysen är en pålitlig metod. Dock identifierades försvårande aspekter som bör åtgärdas för att öka mätningens tillförlitlighet. Studien bekräftar tidigare forskning som visat på begränsningar gällande LENA:s mätning av turtagningar hos unga spädbarn. Resultatet tyder på att det sker fler turtagningar i strukturerad miljö än i hemmiljö. För att säkerställa studiens resultat krävs fortsatta studier.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Bully victimization takes place within a social context of youths’ parents, peers, teachers, school administrators, and community. Victims often rely on parents, educators, or peers for support. However, there is a gap in the literature in understanding parents’ experiences of what occurs before, during, and after reporting bullying to school officials. Therefore, this dissertation study examined parents’ experiences in discovering, reporting, and living through the aftermath of their child being bullied. This study used a purposeful sample that was criterion-based. Nine mothers and one mother/father pair were tape-recorded using face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Follow-up phone interviews followed. Key themes and patterns were analyzed using the philosophical method of interpretive phenomenology based on Heidegger’s philosophy of being. Exemplars were used to illuminate several themes. Results suggest three unique stages. In the first stage, discovery, parents often noticed psychosocial changes in their child related to bullying. Parents often responded initially by providing advice to their children. When signs of their schoolchildren being bullied persisted, parents decided to report the incidents to school officials. Nine parents reported incomplete interventions that let their youths’ victimization continue. One parent, a paradigm case, shared understandings of how her son’s school official provided a full intervention that was restorative. However, all other parents who received an incomplete intervention found themselves rethinking how to protect their children from bullying. In this aftermath, several parents moved their children out of the school into a new district or began to home school. However, half the parents were left unable to move their child and therefore could not provide protection. Indiana’s anti-bullying law was unknown to eight parents and was unsuccessful in leveraging protection for one parent who used it with school officials as a threat. School official’s responses to bullying were incongruent with student handbook procedures. Recommendations from a parent’s perspective indicate school officials must: 1) have a clear process in place for parents to report, 2) follow through by calling parents back with results from investigating and procedures that will be taken to intervene, and 3) call the bullies’ and victims’ parents to notify what has occurred and what will be done to ensure safety. Discussed are implications for school officials, including social workers, and state policymakers. There is a proposed intervention model (Appendix J) that addresses how parents can respond to school officials who are hesitant to provide bullied youth protection.