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Families Can Do Coping: Parenting Skills in the Early Years

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2014

Erica Frydenberg ,
Jan Deans  and
Rachel Liang
Erica Frydenberg
Affiliation:
Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of Melbourne, 100 Leicester St, Carlton, Victoria 3010, Australia
Jan Deans
Affiliation:
The University of Melbourne, 40 Clarke Street, Abbotsford, Victoria 3067, Australia
Rachel Liang*
Affiliation:
Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of Melbourne, 100 Leicester St, Carlton, Victoria 3010, Australia
*
address for correspondence: Rachel Liang, Registered Psychologist, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of Melbourne, 100 Leicester St, Carlton, Victoria 3010. E-mail: rliang@unimelb.edu.au
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Abstract

Parenting programmes are very much a part of the international landscape in Western communities. Coping skills provide a useful resource for parents and children in managing their everyday lives, both together and individually. Following a 5-year research programme with parents and children in an early years setting, Families Can Do Coping was developed as a comprehensive parenting skills programme that incorporates parents’ understanding of their own coping and that of their children. The programme was delivered with the twin aims of teaching communication and coping skills to parents. In 2012, five 2-hour sessions were delivered to 19 parents in an Early Learning Centre at the University of Melbourne. The five-session programme focused on providing parents with information regarding coping skills and the use of visual tools to assist parents to engage with their children in conversations about coping. Additionally, parents completed a pencil-and-paper coping skills evaluation for their child. The programme outcomes included perceptions of parents’ enhancement of their wellbeing, and development of proactive and productive coping skills in both parents and children. After a 3-month period three parents provided feedback on their progress and use of the new tools and strategies for maintaining helpful parenting.

Keywords

parentingearly yearsfamily stresscoping
Type
Articles
Information
Children Australia , Volume 39 , Issue 2 , June 2014 , pp. 99 - 106
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2014 

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