Positive parenting in Spain: introduction to the special issue

ABSTRACT

This introduction presents a general overview of the regulations, policies, programmes and actions which currently exist in Spain within the field of positive parenting. The articles featured in this special issue showcase initiatives aimed at fostering child development through the promotion of parenting competences and family support. They are divided into three sections. Those in the first section describe positive parenting support resources provided by institutions and NGOs. Those in the second analyze prenatal and perinatal periods from a positive parenting perspective and present programmes encompassing the period from birth to 11 years of age, including an online programme for the period from birth to age 3, a support programme for family reunification after temporary foster care and an analysis of family leisure time. The third section focuses on the assessment of family contexts and parenting skills throughout childhood, and presents a proposal for promoting good professional practice and programme design.

KEYWORDS:

• Positive parenting
• family policy

This article outlines the conceptual framework of positive parenting, its scientific foundations and the development of policies based on its principles in Spain. It also offers an overview of the most significant programmes and resources in that country. Recent developments in family policy in Europe have been inspired in part by the positive parenting framework emanating from the Council of Europe’s Recommendation 19 (2006) of the Committee of Ministers to Member States, which provides guidance on how governments can support positive parenting. In the Council of Europe’s Recommendation, positive parenting is defined as ‘parental behaviour based on the best interest of the child that is nurturing, empowering, non-violent and provides recognition and guidance, which involves setting boundaries to enable the full development of the child’ (p. 2).

Parents should be provided with sufficient support mechanisms to enable them to fulfil their important childrearing responsibilities, in keeping with the following principles: (a) adequate family-oriented government policies must be put in place to create the necessary legislative, administrative and financial frameworks; (b) services must be provided to support parents, such as local counselling services, help lines, online parent support, and therapeutic and psychoeducational programmes; (c) services must support parents from a broad variety of family situations, but especially those parents and children facing adverse circumstances (e.g. marital violence, low educational background, poverty, lack of social support, substance abuse); and (d) diversity must be recognized and respected in relation to family patterns and cultural and gender differences, while keeping in mind the best interest of the child. According to Daly’s definition (2015): ‘Parenting support refers to a range of information, support, education, training, counselling and other measures or services that focus on influencing how parents understand and carry out their parenting role’ (p. 17).

1. The scientific foundations of positive parenting

The Council of Europe’s Recommendation echoes the findings of the systematic research carried out over recent decades, underscoring the influence of certain family context variables on children’s psychological development, and highlighting the clear repercussions of this influence on their psychological and social well-being and the protection of their rights. From the perspective of knowledge transfer, family context variables need to be turned into parenting competences that are acquired by families with the aim of fostering their children’s healthy psychological development. Promoting these competences will help reduce the world-wide prevalence of problems linked to antisocial, pathological and violent behaviour, the solution to which lies in a preventive approach focused on optimizing the quality of family contexts and fostering positive parenting competence-building by families.

The scientific justification for positive parenting policies stems from the large body of evidence provided by neuroscientific research (Feldman, 2015), which demonstrates the significant impact of early experiences on children’s development due to the high level of brain plasticity characteristic of developing humans. Justification of positive parenting policies is also based on the evidence provided by Developmental Psychology, which, over recent decades, has researched those family context variables believed to promote healthy psychological development (Van IJzendoorn & Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2017). The analysis of the economic returns generated by preventive actions in the field of positive parenting is also a rich source of scientific evidence in favour of the implementation of policies of this nature (Yates & Marra, 2017).

In Spain, the scientific foundation for the implementation of positive parenting policies mainly lies in the corpus of knowledge established within the scientific community, and most particularly in the results reported by researchers at several different universities, including the pioneering work by Rodrigo and Palacios (1998) and Amorós (2004). Subsequently, other researchers, mainly from the fields of Developmental and Educational Psychology and Educational Research and Diagnosis Methods, have made theoretical and methodological proposals designed to provide a scientific base from which to further the implementation of positive parenting policies at a national, regional and local level.

2. The defining parameters of the positive parenting approach

In order to provide some context for the contents of this monograph and to clarify the details of this theoretical, methodological and knowledge transfer approach, this section presents a defining framework for positive parenting. The general aim is to describe the current nature of positive parenting policies and actions, the defining parameters of which are as follows:

• They are based on the recognition of the rights of the child (UN), which implies explicit acknowledgment of parents’ and guardians’ obligations to the minors in their care. It also implies a clearly child-centred approach, closely linked to parental empowerment as a means of adequately promoting the healthy psychological development of children and adolescents. This approach encompasses the protection of children against all risk factors which may hinder their development, such as destructive conflict, war, infection, abuse, neglect and mistreatment, etc. A key reference in this area is the work of Daly et al. (2015), who state that every country’s legal system should explicitly recognize and support compliance with the declaration of children’s fundamental rights, which include food, physical protection and education, among others.

• They are scientifically justified, with a rigorous and evidence-based implementation: the use of this approach should guarantee that the complexity of the diverse family situations which exist today is taken into account. The concept of evidence should be flexible and should encompass subjectivity weighting. It should also use qualitative and clinical criteria and should avoid distorting reality to fit preconceived methodological constructs (Asmussen, 2011; Scott & Gardner, 2008). In this sense, the R&D&I working model enables the development of public parental empowerment services and programmes stemming directly from research which, in turn, provides feedback for them and constantly helps them improve.

• They are preferably focused on universal primary prevention and conceptually linked to a public health outlook: as primary prevention measures, they should encompass actions aimed at the general population, although they should also strive to be compatible with personalized actions in at-risk or pre-risk families or those facing specific childrearing problems (families of children with special educational needs and families at risk of potential social rejection, etc.). Positive parenting policies should also be preserved in situations of crisis and emergency, such as catastrophes and refugee camps, etc. Some recent studies report evidence regarding the efficacy and methodology of implementing such programmes (Britto et al., 2017).

• They are proactive in fostering universally-valid parenting competences: universal preventive actions in the field of positive parenting should strive to promote those competences identified as vital by scientific research in the field of childrearing. These competences aim to establish interactive intra-family routines which foster secure attachments, help children develop resources and autonomous adaptive strategies, stimulate children’s comprehensive development in a rich and varied manner, and establish contextual conditions conducive to high-quality childrearing / positive parenting.

• They are reactive: positive parenting actions should respond to families’ stated needs, as well as those identified by the social stakeholders who work with them, always in accordance with strict procedures. Any response to families’ demands should always be accompanied by the promotion of their comprehensive empowerment in universally-valid parenting competences. The practical implementation of both proactive and reactive measures should be contextualized, both from a cultural perspective and in relation to the diverse structures and specific needs of each group of families.

• They are based on the principle of co-education and are implemented in a cross-cutting manner in different interactive environments outside the family home, preferably at school: parenting practices designed to promote developmental achievements among children should be supported by interactions occurring in other contexts, which aim to ensure the full development of children’s motor, linguistic and cognitive abilities, as well as their cognitive, emotional and behavioural self-regulation.

• They are focused primarily on the prenatal and perinatal periods, as well as on early infancy: the highly plastic nature of the human brain during these periods and the fact that caregivers generally tend to be extremely motivated and invested in the childrearing process make preventive-educational measures particularly effective during these stages. Nevertheless, the importance of positive parenting actions focusing on critical periods in which good parenting competences are vital, such as adolescence and the transitional period known as emerging adulthood, should not be overlooked.

• They are based on a model which focuses on strengths, not weaknesses: positive parenting policies should not stigmatize or blame families, but should rather be focused on the strengths identified in each family unit, which in turn are used as resources for family interventions. Positive parenting policies do not necessarily use the criteria of psychopathology, and interventions are recommended at a sub-clinical level. In this sense, access to positive parenting resources should be universal, free and flexible, and they should be provided within the educational, social and health fields.

• They use constructivist, experience-based and preferably group methodologies to help participants acquire parenting competences: they also adopt an eclectic approach to fostering parenting competences and are open to using neo-behaviorist, systemic and social learning methods (among others).

• They strive to ensure the coordinated implementation of all kinds of parent and family support initiatives by diverse inter-administrative and inter-sectoral departments, paying particular attention to avoiding unnecessary duplications.

• They are disseminated, supported and incentivized by the family support management services provided by the social services and the education and healthcare systems, in conjunction with actions implemented by stakeholders working in the culture, sport and leisure fields and at civic or community centres. All these contexts should be used to disseminate, in diverse formats, messages designed to empower families and help them acquire good parenting competences. The use of positive parenting resources may be rewarded or encouraged (always in a non-compulsory manner) through tax incentives or other publicly-funded strategies.

• They adhere to the code of ethics regarding the preservation of the independence of scientific knowledge and are not subject to commercial manipulations or any other influences except that of promoting children’s healthy psychological development. Several studies have attempted to assess the ethical quality of family training proposals (Suárez-Perdomo, Byrne, & Rodrigo, 2018), and it is also important to highlight the growing presence of international campaigns designed to protect children against commercialization (Golin & Campbell, 2017).

3. Positive parenting policies in Spain

As a member of the European Union, Spain is a recipient of the Council of Europe’s Recommendation 19 to member states (2006), and is therefore called upon to develop and implement positive parenting policies. In general terms, the situation regarding the implementation of positive parenting policies in Spain is very positive, and the field is currently experiencing a period of significant expansion. Several recent studies explore this situation in more detail and can be consulted by any reader interested in deepening his or her knowledge in this field. Works include those by Rodrigo, Byrne, and Álvarez (2017), Rodrigo, Almeida, and Reichle (2015) and the monograph published by the journal Intervención Psicosocial, edited by Rodrigo (2016) and dedicated to exploring the quality of the implementation of positive parenting programmes in Spain.

In March 2007, the Council of Europe agreed to establish a European Alliance for Families. The Alliance, which is coordinated by the European Commission, provides a space for debate and the exchange of information and initiatives among member states within the field of family protection. Another European network worth mentioning is Eurochild, which is a collection of NGOs working across the continent to promote children’s well-being. Over recent years, there has been a sharp increase in policies seeking to promote universal programmes which families can access without fear of stigmatization. In addition to making the offer of preventive parent support / positive parenting actions universally accessible to all, some countries, such as Sweden, for example, have even made it compulsory for families to receive a minimum amount of training in this field. Other countries, such as Malta, offer economic benefits in the form of tax rebates to those engaging in these programmes (Abela & Grench Lanfranco, 2014).

In 2011, an attempt was made to design a coordinated, European-wide, positive parenting strategy. The initiative was sponsored by the European Commission for Social Affairs and Inclusion and resulted in the publication of a synthesis report by Daly (2011). The peer review meeting of the different positive parenting initiatives was attended by representatives from Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Italy, France (which hosted the meeting in Paris) and the UK. The conclusions of the meeting focused on aligning efforts in the field of positive parenting with the Europe 2020 strategy. As Daly herself points out (2011), this initiative has two guidelines that are directly or indirectly linked to positive parenting actions: guideline 9, which focuses on preventing school drop-out, and guideline 10, which strives to reduce the number of people living in poverty and social exclusion. Moreover, parenting support is a mainstream issue that appears in all seven flagship initiatives of the European strategy, offering an innovative approach to addressing social problems.

As Rodrigo et al. (2017) point out, in Spain there has been renewed political impetus in promoting family policies, resulting in four key national plans. The first was the 2nd National Plan for Childhood and Adolescence (2013–16, currently being renewed), which was approved in April 2013 and focused on promoting child and adolescent well-being, taking their needs and interests into consideration in order to improve their quality of life and foster the full development of their capabilities as active rights holders. The second was the Comprehensive Family Support Plan (2015–2017), which was approved in 2015 and sought to ensure coordinated action among diverse ministries. The plan aimed to implement political parenting support measures, such as work-life balance initiatives (among others), and also envisaged explicit support for positive parenting policies. The third was the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion (2013–2016), which was approved in 2013 and aimed to respond to the needs of families in situations of poverty and social exclusion. The last plan was the Preventive Health Promotion Strategy, implemented by the National Health Service and approved in December 2003. This plan places special emphasis on promoting healthy lifestyles during pregnancy, as well as on child well-being from birth to age 3. The strategy involves training professionals not only in the treatment of disease and illness, but also in the use of preventive approaches and instruments, such as positive parenting.

Since 2009, in collaboration with the FEMP (Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces), the Spanish Ministry for Health, Social Services and Equality has striven to implement Recommendation 19, issued by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, by setting in motion a wide range of initiatives within the field of positive parenting. These initiatives include the drafting of the following documents: Positive parenting and local family support policies (Rodrigo, Maiquez, & Martin, 2010a); Parent education as a psychoeducational resource for fostering positive parenting (Rodrigo, Maiquez, & Martin, 2010b); and Best professional practice for supporting positive parenting (Rodrigo, Maiquez, & Martín, 2011). Currently, statewide childhood and family plans include strategic areas and actions based on the theoretical and methodological positive parenting framework. More recently, an alliance was established between the Spanish Ministry for Health, Social Policies and Equality, the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces and a team of experts at the Spanish universities of La Laguna, Gran Canaria, Seville, Madrid, Barcelona, Oviedo and the Basque Country. This alliance has given rise to several initiatives, including a Guide to Best Practices in Positive Parenting (Rodrigo et al., 2016a), which offers a series of guidelines for guaranteeing the quality of positive parenting services and programmes in the education, health, legal and social fields. It has also resulted in a website called familias en positivo (positive families), which contains an online self-evaluation platform for services, programmes and family interventions. Both initiatives are described in detail in the last article of this special edition.

At a regional level, it is worth noting that many Autonomous Communities have taken meaningful steps in relation to legally recognizing the validity of positive parenting policies and programmes and implementing them in their area of administrative influence. The following are some examples. In the Canary Islands, the General Directorate for Family and Child Well-being charged a team of experts from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the University of La Laguna with drafting a report on the situation of children and families from the perspective of positive parenting. This report in turn formed the basis of the Canary Island Strategy for Childhood and Families, implemented throughout the Autonomous Community by the Regional Government, as well as through the individual Island Councils and, at a more local level, through the municipal councils also. For its part, the Autonomous Community of Andalusia has implemented its 2^nd Comprehensive Child and Adolescent Well-being Plan, 2016–2020, which includes a specific strategy to promote positive parenting through actions in different fields. It also encompasses universal primary prevention actions aimed at the entire population. The Autonomous Community of Madrid has established a Family Support Plan 2015–2018, which seeks (among other things) to provide support to families in the childrearing process and to foster positive parenting; the region also has a Family Support Strategy 2016–2021, which aims to promote and support parent training in healthy childrearing and education through Family Support and Meeting Centers (known locally as CAEFs).

In Asturias, article 19 of the Regional Social Services Act 1/2003, of 24 February, establishes Family Support Measures. With the aim providing family intervention professionals in the Principality of Asturias with an adequate technical instrument for offering family support, the Principality Observatory for Childhood and Adolescence supports the implementation of positive parenting programmes. In addition to researchers from the University of Oviedo, the Territorial Area Teams (known as ETs), the Technical Family Support Intervention Teams (known as EITAFs) and the Municipal Social Services also collaborate directly in these programmes. The practical effects of these initiatives are reflected in the Comprehensive Municipal Childhood Well-being Plans. In Catalonia, the Comprehensive Childhood and Adolescence Well-being Plan 2015–2018 is currently in effect. The Catalonia Family Secretariat runs a variety of different programmes and training activities for parents, with the aim of providing positive guidance in a number of different areas, including childcare, education and child development. At a local level, the Barcelona and Lleida City Councils have also set up different positive parenting programmes.

In the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, special mention should be made of the Basque Pact on Families and Childhood), a cross-cutting agreement which aims to involve multiple social stakeholders in family protection and support initiatives. At a local level, the Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council is currently designing an inter-departmental positive parenting programme. The Autonomous Community of Cantabria has recently presented its Comprehensive Family Support Program (known locally as the PAIF), which was developed in accordance with the theoretical and methodological principles of positive parenting, with the advice and guidance of researchers from the University of Seville. Finally, the Regional Government of Castilla y León, and indeed the majority of Spain’s 17 Autonomous Communities, are gradually implementing different positive parenting programmes.

4. Positive parenting programmes and actions

In Spain, all national, regional and local child and adolescent well-being plans include strategic areas and actions designed to foster positive parenting. These measures are mainly implemented with scientific support provided by researchers from Spanish universities whose work focuses on this field. Programmes can be grouped into the categories outlined below and include all those initiatives which enjoy stable institutional support, a circumstance which encourages families to view them as accessible.

Category 1: Group programmes based on scientific evidence: these programmes generally use a constructivist methodology, include systematic assessment processes and procedures for incorporating improvements linked to both content and implementation. The following are some examples:

• Crecer felices en familia (Growing up in happy families) / Implemented by the social services / Aimed at all parents (at risk and not at risk) with children from birth to age 5 / Focused on promoting parental sensitivity, expectations regarding child development, self-regulation strategies and family-school relations / Post programme measures: attitude towards childrearing, parental self-competence, parental stress, knowledge of the child development calendar and children’s needs (Rodrigo et al., 2008).

• Aprender juntos, Crecer en familia (Learning Together, Growing in Family) / Implemented by the network of NGOs participating in the Caixa Proinfancia Program / Aimed at vulnerable families in disadvantaged situations with children aged between 6 and 12 / Focused on promoting affective bonds, establishing rules and values, family organization, communication, creative conflict resolution and the management of family leisure time / Post programme measures: parenting strategies, child’s perception of discipline, sense of self-competence, leisure time activities and family satisfaction (Amorós, Balsells, Buisan, Byrne, & Fuentes-Peláez, 2013).

• Programa de formación y apoyo familiar (FAF) (Family training and support programme) / Implemented by the social services / Aimed at parents in situations of risk with children of any age / Focused on family preservation and the development of parenting competences from an ecological and systemic perspective / Post programne measures: parenting ideologies, perceived quality of physical, psychological and family life, self-esteem, satisfaction and social support networks (Hidalgo García, Sánchez Hidalgo, Lorence Lara, Menéndez Álvarez-Dardet, & Jiménez García, 2014).

• Programa-Guía para el desarrollo de competencias emocionales, educativas y parentales (Programme-Guide for developing emotional, educational and parenting competences) / Implemented by the social services and schools / Aimed at all families (at risk and not at risk) with children aged between 2 and 17 / Focused on promoting parents’ emotional and educational strategies in order to improve the quality of family relations / Post programme measures: knowledge of the child development process, self-regulation competences, self-esteem, assertiveness, emotional and communication strategies and conflict resolution strategies (Martínez González, 2009).

• Programa vivir la adolescencia en familia (Adolescence in the family environment) / Implemented by the social services, schools and NGOs / Aimed at all families (at risk and not at risk) with adolescent children aged between 11 and 17 / Focused on promoting parental supervision, communication, creative conflict resolution, healthy lifestyles, regulation of Internet use and family-school relations / Post programme measures: parental ideas regarding adolescence, parental supervision, conflict resolution strategies (Rodrigo et al., 2010c).

Category 2: Individual programmes and actions for families. These are programmes aimed at both at risk and not at risk parents who have been referred by the social, educational or healthcare services. Some enable thorough assessment, while others aim to disseminate information and/or provide guidance to families in accordance with the basic principles of positive parenting.

• Programa – servicio de evaluación preventiva de contextos familiares – Descubre tu potencialidad para educar a tus hijos e hijas (Preventive family context assessment programme-service. Discover your potential for raising your children) / Implemented by the social services, schools and health centres / Aimed at families (preferably not at risk) with children from birth to age 3 / Focused on fostering family context and parenting competences / Post programme measures: competences for promoting children’s cognitive, linguistic and social-emotional development (scaffolding, promotion of affective bonds, promotion of resilience, etc.), quality of the family context (father’s involvement, conflict resolution, stress levels, relations with the school, relations with the extended family, etc.) (Arranz et al., 2016a; Arranz Freijo et al., 2017).

• Programa educar en positivo: parentalidad positiva on-line (The positive parent: an online positive parenting programme) / Run by the educarenpositivo.es website / Aimed at families with children of any age / Focused on providing information and support to parents (modules on diet, regulating Internet use, child behaviour, communication and conflict resolution during adolescence, response to functional diversity, family and sport, adoption and step families / Post programme measures: emotion intensity, online parental support and positive parenting; final measure: satisfaction with the training modules (Suárez-Perdomo, Rodríguez, & Rodrigo, 2016; Torres et al., 2014).

• Acción educar y crecer en familia (Action: growing up and raising children in a family) / Website aimed at families, run by the Bilbao City Council / Focused on providing information and support to parents / It offers monthly interviews with experts, guides for developing diverse positive parenting competences, and summaries of research findings in the field of family and psychological development.

Category 3: resources aimed at providing support to professionals working with families, from the perspective of positive parenting. Initiatives include online and/or traditional classroom-based training courses on programme design and assessment strategies, etc. They also include websites offering a wide range of different resources.

• Espacio web familias en positivo.org (positive families website) / Offers an intranet space designed exclusively for professionals with a wide range of instruments, a database of intervention programmes, research abstracts and materials for working with families, etc. / Funded by the Spanish Ministry for Health, Social Policies and Equality and the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces.

• Espacio web gurasotasuna (parenting website) / Internet website for professionals with a range of bilingual (Spanish and Basque) instruments, a database of intervention programmes, research abstracts and materials for working with families, etc. / Funded by the Basque Regional Government’s Department of Family Policy and Diversity / This Department also runs online training courses for professionals focusing on key areas of positive parenting, in collaboration with the Public University of the Basque Country.

5. Contributions to this special issue

The contributions to this special issue are divided into three sections. The first section comprises articles 2 and 3. Article 2, entitled ‘The role of NGOs in the dissemination and implementation of positive parenting in Spain’ (Ochaita, Espinosa, Garcia –Llorernte & Fernández-López), summarizes the contribution made by NGOs to the implementation of positive parenting actions and programmes in our country. As in other countries in the world (Daly et al., 2015), in Spain, NGOs have helped raise awareness regarding the need not only for instrumental support for families, but also parenting support aimed at helping parents develop the skills they need to foster their children’s development. The article offers a brief description of the most important programmes run by NGOs in Spain.

The third article, entitled ‘An analysis of different resources and programmes supporting at-risk families in Spain’ (Hidalgo et al.), analyzes the quality of resources and programmes aimed at families in situations of risk, particularly psychoeducational initiatives seeking to foster positive parenting. The usefulness of this analysis lies in the fact that the results of the assessment provide important feedback for improving both the design and the implementation of the aforementioned resources and programmes, thus helping to establish a positive R&D&I (Research & Development & Innovation) loop. One of the key areas of collaboration between the academic/scientific and institutional fields is precisely the independent assessment of intervention policies and programmes run by the administration. Recent examples of this type of collaboration include the study by Arranz et al. (2016b), which presents an analysis carried out for the Regional Basque Government by a research team at the University of the Basque Country, and the analysis conducted by Britto et al. (2017) as part of an initiative involving researchers from various universities, which offers important data regarding the content and implementation quality of international early intervention programmes.

The second section encompasses four articles focusing on new perspectives and innovative programmes in the field of positive parenting. Article 4, entitled ‘Promotion of child development and health from the perinatal period: an approach from positive parenting’ (Roncallo, Barreto & Sánchez de Miguel), offers a comprehensive overview of current knowledge in an emerging field known as prenatal and perinatal positive parenting (Glover & Capron, 2017; Roncallo, Sánchez de Miguel, & Arranz Freijo, 2014). Advances in the study of intrauterine development shed light on key concepts such as fetal programming, which analyzes the impact of family variables such as stress and exposure to neurotoxins, etc. on neurodevelopment. The fundamental implication of these findings is clear: parents can lay the groundwork for positive parenting right from the moment of conception, or even before.

Article 5, ‘Gaining Health and Wellbeing from Birth to 3: A web-based positive parenting programme for primary care settings’ (Calleja, Byrne & Rodrigo), presents a paradigmatic universal prevention intervention programme carried out with the novel aim of introducing the notion of parental support into the healthcare field. The programme is an online positive parenting initiative called Ganar salud bienestar entre los 0 y los 3 años (Gaining health and well-being from birth to age 3) and is aimed at parents and parental figures with children in the stated age range. Its aim is to encourage families to build knowledge and competences on the basis of appropriate routines and stimuli, thus providing a steady guide for the childrearing and parenting process during this critical moment in a child’s life.

The second section then continues with article 6, entitled ‘Positive parenting support in during family reunification’ (Balsells, Mateo, Urrea & Vaquero), which represents the results of a parenting support programme aimed at families reunited after temporary fostering. The article identifies the various dimensions that help ensure a successful reunification as the foundation of a strong, stable, family system. Article 7, entitled ‘Analysis of family shared leisure time in early childhood’ (Martin, Alemán, Calcines & Izquierdo), presents the findings of an exhaustive study on shared family leisure time in a cohort of families from the Canary Islands. The results of the study have important educational implications: the quality of shared family leisure time is, without doubt, a systemic indicator of the quality of family context and the development of parenting competences, reflected in leisure time activities which enable play-based interactions, scaffolding and the consolidation of affective bonds, among others. Within this context it is worth mentioning the large body of evidence which attests to the importance of good parental management of children’s contact with digital screens and the need to develop preventive criteria in this respect, such as those issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics regarding the need for rigorous control over the way in which children under the age of 2 interact with digital devices (Lauricella, Wartella, & Rideout, 2015).

The third section of this special issue is dedicated to the practical positive parenting resources developed for researchers and professionals working in this field. Article 8, ‘Validation of the Parenting Competence Scale for Parents with Young Children’ (Martínez-González & Iglesias-Garcia), presents the validation of a new instrument designed to assess parenting competences in families with children from birth to age 6. The study focuses on a large sample of families and amply confirms the importance of factors linked to key elements of positive parenting, such as parental self-regulation, the fostering of self-esteem and good communications. Article 9, ‘Family context assessment and positive parenting policies’ (Barreto et al.), presents the descriptive results obtained using a previously factorized instrument designed to enable an exhaustive evaluation of the quality of family context and parenting competences in a broad sample of families. In this case, family evaluation is conceptualized as a prospective population survey aimed at identifying specific issues on which positive parenting policies and actions should focus. The instrument used detected (among other factors) the need to foster shared reading activities and to disseminate preventive criteria linked to different positive parenting variables.

The last article in this special edition is entitled ‘National Agency–University partnership for a web-based positive parenting policy and evidence-based practices’ (Rodrigo et al.) and presents a pilot collaboration experience between the national agencies responsible for family policy, the scientific community and family intervention professionals. The product of this collaborative alliance is a Guide to Best Practices in Positive Parenting (Rodrigo et al., 2016a) and a self-assessment e-tool offering professionals and researchers the opportunity to evaluate the quality of the services they offer to families, the rigour of their professional practice and the quality of the evidence-based programmes implemented; all within the field of positive parenting. The instrument contains a set of best practices and their indicators, which are extremely useful for designing services and programmes, and which provide a scientific basis for policy-makers responsible for earmarking funds to the proposals received from organizations working in this field.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Enrique B. Arranz Freijo, Ph.D, is a Professor at the Department of Basic Psychological Processes and its Development. University of the Basque Country. Spain. Co-director of HAEZI-ETXADI group. Priority research lines are Family context and child development, Positive parenting policies, Family-School coeducation, Perinatal family context and child development, and Family context and Executive Functions development. He is member of the Expert Group on Positive Parenting of the Spanish Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equity and the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces.

Maria J. Rodrigo López, PhD is a Professor at the Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of La Laguna, La Laguna, Spain. She is the Director of the Master in Family, Social and Community Intervention and Mediation. She is a former President of the European Association of Developmental Psychology and Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science (APS). Priority research lines are Positive Parenting, Elaboration, Implementation and Evaluation of Positive Parenting programs; and Neurobiology of Maternal Neglectt. She coordinates the Experts Group on Positive Parenting of the Spanish Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equity and the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces.

ORCID

Enrique B. Arranz Freijo http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4481-3420

Maria J. Rodrigo López http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5504-886X