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Piloting a parenting skills program in an Australian rural child protection setting

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 February 2016

Rosemaria Flaherty  and
Rodney Cooper
Rosemaria Flaherty
Affiliation:
North Coast Area Health Service, Grafton, NSW, Email: Rosemaria.Flaherty@ncahs.health.nsw.gov.au
Rodney Cooper
Affiliation:
Life Solutions North West, North West Slopes Division of General Practice, Tamworth, NSW
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Abstract

This rural pilot study examined the effectiveness of a brief parenting skills intervention delivered to parents/carers of children who had experienced moderate to severe child abuse. The participants were 35 parents/carers living in rural New South Wales, Australia, who were recruited through referrals to a rural community health service. Participants were assessed pre and post the brief parenting skills education program using a battery of standardised self-report measures. Participants were randomly assigned to an immediate intervention group or a 3-month waitlist control group. The intervention was a three session ‘1-2-3 Magic’ parenting program.

T-test analyses indicated that carers who received the intervention reported significant improvements in their mental health and discipline practices, and a significant reduction in child problem behaviour compared to the waitlist control group.

The results of the study suggest that a brief psycho-educational parenting group intervention may be effective for carers of abused children in the short-term.

Type
Research Article
Information
Children Australia , Volume 35 , Issue 3 , 2010 , pp. 18 - 24
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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