Parents' Experiences of a Brief Online Parenting Program with Playful Discipline

Abstract

Parents should be able to receive parenting support for their child's behavioral issues that are both easy to access and that align with their values. This qualitative report explores the experiences of twenty-six parents with children between 2 and 4 years old who participated in a brief online attachment-based, trauma-informed parenting study. This report is the qualitative component of an eight-week RCT pilot study that evaluated the efficacy of the Aware Parenting program. The cornerstone of the Aware Parenting approach is a playful approach to discipline. Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews after participation in a brief Aware Parenting program found three key themes emerge: (1) wanting to be the best parent they could be, (2) reframing child behavior, and (3) a brief program is enough. Overall, participants felt satisfied with a single online session and thought the playful discipline strategies were appropriate, effective, and easy to implement. Parents may benefit from the accessibility of a single-session online parenting program, particularly when opportunities to gather in a face-to-face setting are limited. Recommendations from this study include insight into recruitment, engagement, and retention of participants in future studies on brief online attachment-based parenting programs. This study also highlights the need to explore discipline strategies compatible with attachment-based parent education programs.

Key Findings

• Participants were willing to implement new parenting strategies despite the approach being different from popular parenting practices and different from what they experienced as children.

• Participants felt that the playful discipline strategies they learned in the Aware Parenting program were an acceptable approach for improving behavior in young children.

• A single online session with social media follow-up support increases accessibility for parents who may benefit from attachment-based parenting support.

Keywords:

• Attachment-based
• discipline
• parent education
• single session
• trauma-informed

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the work of Aletha Solter, Ph.D., founder of the Aware Parenting Institute, for developing the evidence-based parenting approach used in this study. Her attention to detail in theoretical foundations and the playful discipline strategies are strengths of the Aware Parenting approach. We would also like to thank Marion Rose, Ph.D., for contributing to this project and developing some of the Aware Parenting terminologies such as ‘present time' and ‘loving limits.'

Disclosure statement

The first author is a certified Aware Parenting instructor; therefore, there may be a perceived conflict of interest. None of the authors have a financial conflict of interest to declare.

Data availability statement

The data supporting this study's findings are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available because this allowance was not made in the ethics application.