Elevate Parenting!
What researchers say about
Education Training Research (ETR) Associates (www.etr.org)
Parent Child Connectedness: Implications for Research, Inerventions, and Positive Impacts on Adolescent Health
Lezin, Rolleri, Bean, Taylor, ETR Associates, 2004.
ETR (Education Training Research) Associates use the term Parent Child Connectedness, or PCC, to expand the idea of attachment to encompass more than the parent unilaterally giving to the child. They define PCC as “seeing the interaction between parents and children not just as individuals but as part of an on-going, dynamic relationship” (ETR, 2004, pg 5). The parent-child connection endures beyond the early infant years, and is sustained in different ways throughout the life of the child.
ETR’s review of over 600 research studies concludes that Parent Child Connectedness is what ETR calls the “super-protective factor” against adverse outcomes in adolescence. PCC is the single strongest indicator that an adolescent will reach adulthood without experiencing teen pregnancy or violence, without becoming addicted to drugs or tobacco, and without dropping out of high school.
The research by ETR Associates also revealed that the Parenting by Connection program was one of only a few that effectively connects parents and children and provides this super protective factor.
Rebecca Aced-Molina (MA)
Click here for: A Review of Literature Supporting the Parenting by Connection Approach
Randi B Wolfe (PhD)
Listening to Children: A New Approach to Parent Support, Education, and Empowerment
Randi B Wolfe, Family Science Review, 1999, Vol 12 (4), pp 275-293.
“Taken together, the results of the three studies suggest that Listening to Children can be as relevant and effective among middle-class mothers as among low-income mothers of colour. Listening to Children seems particularly beneficial for parents experiencing high levels of stress, social isolation, and parental depression, and for parents who veer away from democratic, authoritative child-rearing practices. Target groups of parents might include those whose children are displaying behaviour problems related to limit-setting or distractibility and those particularly vulnerable to stress such as parents going through divorce, low-income parents, or others facing stressful life situations.”
Qualitative Examination of Parents’ Experiences in Parent Education Groups
Randi B. Wolfe and Lana Haddy, Early Child Development and Care, 2001, Vol 167, pp 77-87.
“The ongoing development and dissemination of Listening to Children as a distinct approach to parent education has implications for practitioners and program development. The feedback from the mothers in this study suggests a link between emotional release and personal reflection and less stressful, more responsive, more empathic parenting.”
“The results suggest that providing opportunities for mutual support and emotional healing correlate with improved parenting attitudes and practices. Unfortunately, many parent education programs are primarily didactic in nature and provide little opportunity for such sharing and support.”
“As we identify the critical elements of successful parent education programs, we enhance our understanding of human development, maximize parental effects on children’s developmental trajectories, and bolster the construction of programs and policies intended to encourage healthy family functioning and optimal child development.”
Loretta Geuenich (Research Officer, Flinders Institute of Public Policy and Management, School of Politics and International Studies, Flinders University)
Evaluation on the Sustainability of the Parenting by Connection Program for Community Benefit SA
Loretta Geuenich, Flinders Institute of Public Policy and Management, Flinders University, 2011.
Loretta Geuenich and Prof Jo Baulderstone conducted evaluations of the FaHCSIA-funded Communities for Children Project in the south of Adelaide.
Dr Debra King (National Institute for Labour Studies, Flinders University)
Listening to Children: An Evaluation of the Implementation Process in Four Childcare Centres
Dr Debra King, National Institute for Labour Studies, Flinders University, 2007.
The implementation and the research project were funded by the then Minister for Education and Children’s Services, the Hon. Jane Lomax Smith.
"The data gathered through this process indicates that Listening to Children is of great benefit to children's emotional wellbeing, particularly in dealing with issues around separation, transitioning, or challenging behaviours such as biting. For the centres, this resulted in being able to offer an environment that was calm, secure and enjoyable for the children. For the parents, this meant that they had higher levels of confidence in the centre and, for those who used the Listening to Children strategies, better connections with their children. Where Listening to Children worked best was when children had consistency in the approach through both the centres and in their home environment.
The parent groups were an important forum for learning how to become 'better' parents: to connect with their children and have more loving relationships, to make time for their children, to empower their children to make good choices and take responsibility; and to discipline their children within a supportive and nurturing framework."
