Improving Parent Competence with a Community-Based Group Parent Training Program

This pilot study investigated the impact of a parent training program that focused on helping parents use child development information to identify care giving issues and set goals to improve their parent-child interactions. The community-based program provided group education on parenting topics, a structured goal setting process, and individual coaching. After six weeks, the participants recorded more competence with parenting, improved goal performance, and more satisfaction with their parent-child interactions. A follow-up with the parents one year later revealed that they were continuing to benefit from the education and coaching program. These findings support the use of parent training programs to improve parents' ability to monitor and adapt their parent-child interactions to meet their children's changing needs.