Effectiveness of a Parental Training Programme to Enhance Parent-child Relationship and Reduce Harsh Parenting Practices and Parental Stress in the Preparation of Children for Transition to Primary School

NCT01845948 | Completed DMC

• 1 other identifier: ND789
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 142
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study tested the effectiveness of a parental training programme to enhance parent-child relationship and reduce harsh parenting practices and parental stress in the preparation of children for transition to primary school. A randomized controlled trial was employed and 142 parents were recruited. Parents in the experimental group engaged in less harsh parenting practices and reported better parent-child relationships than parents in the control group. Findings from this study provide empirical evidence of the effectiveness of the parental training programme and highlight the significance of parental involvement in promoting a smooth transition for children from kindergarten to primary one.

Conditions

Parent

Keywords

parents; school transition; parental-child relationship

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change of Self-reported Parent-Child Relationship at 6 weeks from baseline

  The parent-child relationship of the participants was measured by using a self-reporting method consisting of two items, with one asking 'How satisfied are you with the parent-child relationship?" and the other 'As a parent, how satisfied are you with yourself?'

  6 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (8)

• Self-reported Parent-Child Relationship at baseline

  baseline, 0 week ( just before the start of intervention)

• Change of Self-reported Parent-Child Relationship at 3 months from baseline

  3 months

• Perceived Parental Aggression Scale at baseline

  baseline, 0 week ( just before the start of intervention)

• change of Perceived Parental Aggression Scale at 6 weeks from baseline

  6 weeks

• change of Perceived Parental Aggression Scale at 3 months from baseline

  3 months

Study Arms (2)

Placebo Control

PLACEBO COMPARATOR

Parents had no intervention except that an information leaflet for parents on helping children to adapt the new primary school life published by Education Bureau was given to each parent in the control group at the end of data collection.

Behavioral: Placebo Control

parental training programme

EXPERIMENTAL

The parental training programme was run in small groups of 8 to 12 parents over four consecutive weeks. They consisted of four group sessions, each lasting about two hours. The major focus of the parental intervention included teaching parents: (1) to use more active listening skills, (2) to engage less in harsh parenting practices, (3) to use more praise and encouragement and (4) to set reasonable expectations in the rearing of their children. Each session was started with revision of skills or concepts discussed in previous sessions, therefore, each session built on the previous session.

Behavioral: parental training programme

Interventions

parental training programme BEHAVIORAL

In the experimental group, parents participated in the parental training programme approximately one month before the start of the academic year in primary school. Two social workers, who have minimum five- year experience in giving family counselling,implemented the interventions.

parental training programme

Placebo Control BEHAVIORAL

Parents had no intervention except that an information leaflet for parents on helping children to adapt the new primary school life published by Education Bureau was given to each parent in the control group at the end of data collection.

Placebo Control

Eligibility Criteria

• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• must be able to read and write Chinese
• must have had primary school education or above

You may not qualify if:

• with identified cognitive and learning problems were excluded, as also were children with such problems

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The University of Hong Kong: lead

Study Sites (1)

Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Tung Chung Integrated Services

Hong Kong, China

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Li HC, Chan SS, Mak YW, Lam TH. Effectiveness of a parental training programme in enhancing the parent-child relationship and reducing harsh parenting practices and parental stress in preparing children for their transition to primary school: a randomised controlled trial. BMC Public Health. 2013 Nov 16;13:1079. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-13-1079.

  PMID: 24237718 DERIVED

Study Officials

• William Ho Cheung Li, PhD

  The School of Nursing, The University of Hong Kong

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assistant Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 25, 2013
• First Posted: May 3, 2013
• Study Start: March 1, 2009
• Primary Completion: September 1, 2009
• Study Completion: December 1, 2009
• Last Updated: May 3, 2013

Record last verified: 2013-04

Locations

CN (1)