The Power of ParentingTM Program: Parent Identity and Parenting Transformations Shown Through Parents’ Self-Reflective Drawings

• In Event: Poster Session 07
  In Poster Session: PS 07 Topic - Prevention and Interventions

Abstract

Parents - and how they parent - can have a meaningful impact on a child’s social and emotional skill development. Providing emotional support, demonstrating positive affect, and using emotional coaching can lead to better emotion regulation in children compared to using psychological control and negative expressions of anger and criticism (Chang et al., 2003; Morris, et al., 2017). One way to foster positive child social and emotional skills is through parenting education programs. Programs like Families First’s Power of Parenting help parents expand their knowledge of child development and teach specific parenting behaviors and interpersonal skills (Ponzetti, 2015). The Power of Parenting Program was developed based on the Protective Factors framework, a strategy for enhancing child development and strengthening families (Center for the Study of Social Policy, 2018). The current study is part of a larger mixed-methods project that explores the participant’s parenting skill outcomes brought about by the program. The aim of this study was to delve into parents’ self-reflective drawings to qualitatively assess the program’s impact on their experience as a parent and in their parenting behaviors.
A total of 112 ethnically/racially diverse parents participated in the 12-session Power of Parenting Program (37 took the program in Spanish). During the tenth/eleventh session, participants were asked to reflect and draw parenting transformations stemming from the program. These “Identity Maps” (Sirin & Fine, 2007) provide a visually rich and cross-cultural/linguistic method for assessing parents’ shifts in identities and parenting approaches.
Data from the Identity Maps were coded and analyzed using thematic analysis (Rose, 2007; Braune & Clarke, 2006, 2012). There were four levels of coding: 1) specific elements of the drawing; 2) overall meaning and themes; 3) changes from “before” and “today”; and 4) narrative. Four main themes emerged from the analysis of the visual data. “Knowledge Learned” spoke to how the Power of Parenting program taught them new parenting techniques and ways of relating with their children. This includes improved communication with children and positive approaches to disciplining children. “Parents’ Emotional Shifts” emphasized the shift in emotion from before the program to today. Negative emotions such as sadness and stress dominated the “before” drawings, whereas depictions of happiness and affection (e.g., hearts) can be found in the “today” drawings. “Family Closeness” showed how the program brought parents and children closer together through the encouragement of play and spending quality time together. Lastly, many parents indicated in the narrative that they felt a “Connectedness to Their Group.” The program gave parents the chance to give and receive advice from others in their cohort, which assured parents that they were not alone in their struggles with parenting.
The results of this qualitative analysis show ways that the program has transformed both parents’ perception of their identity as parents and their parenting. Parents reported many benefits of the program, including increased social support with other parents and more harmony in the home with their children. Future studies will combine these robust Identity Map qualitative findings with quantitative markers of parent skill change.

Authors

• Samantha Jane Benavidez Walsh, Suffolk University
  Presenting Author

• Rose Luehrs, Suffolk University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kaitlin Duté, Suffolk University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Rosemarie DiBiase, Suffolk University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Karen Osborne, Ball State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ashlan Speck, Families First
  Non-Presenting Author

• Maureen O'Brien, Families First
  Non-Presenting Author

• Amy Kerivan Marks, Wellesley College
  Non-Presenting Author