A Quasi-Experimental Study of the Respectful Approach on Early Parenting Competence and Stress
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ORIGINAL PAPER
A Quasi-Experimental Study of the Respectful Approach on Early Parenting Competence and Stress Amanda C. Richardson
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Johnny Lo2 Lynn Priddis3 Therese A. O’Sullivan1 ●
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© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Early parenthood can be stressful. Many parenting interventions emphasize skills training, as opposed to improving the parent-child relationship. We investigated whether the Respectful Approach intervention, based on building the parent-child relationship through observation and respect, improves stress and confidence in parents of infants and toddlers. Using a quasi-experimental design, we compared changes in self-reported levels of stress and parenting competence between 15 parents who attended the Respectful Approach parent-child classes (once a week for six weeks), to a control group of 23 parents utilizing the ‘Parenting Sense of Competence Scale’, ‘Parental Stress Scale’ and ‘Depression Anxiety Stress Scales’. A focus group was held at the conclusion of the intervention to provide feedback about the classes. A significant Time × Group interaction was observed for both parent competence (p = 0.004) and parent stress (p = 0.010). Parents in the intervention group demonstrated a significant increase in parent competence (p = 0.001) with no significant change observed in the control group (p = 0.787). Parent stress significantly increased in the control group (p = 0.017) and marginally decreased in the intervention group (p = 0.134). Qualitative analysis revealed that the intervention parents felt they were calmer and better understood their children. These findings suggest that the Respectful Approach intervention may improve parental stress and parenting competence. Our results justify development of a randomized controlled trial to further quantify the effect of this approach. Keywords Respectful Parenting Stress Competence Infants Toddlers ●
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Highlights We examined an early relationship-based parenting intervention (Respectful Approach) for parents of children under the age of two. ● Respectful Approach aims to improve parent stress and competence by helping parents view the child as a separate, competent being with their own thoughts and intentions, and to trust in the child’s abilities. ● Parents of infants revealed they felt less stressed, while parents of toddlers felt more confident after participation in the intervention. ● Further research into the use of the Respectful Approach as a potential population-based support system is warranted. ●
Supplementary information The online version of this article (https:// doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01762-w) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Amanda C. Richardson [email protected] 1
School of Medical and Health Science, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, Australia
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School of Science, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, Australia
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Law School, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
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