Assessment of educational intervention in enhancing parenting self‑efficacy in parents of primary school students

Parenting self‑efficacy, which is one of the main determinants of effective and positive parental behavior, has been commonly defined as the parents’ opinions and beliefs to develop their ability to affect their children in a way that raises their confidence development and adjustment. This study was performed to examine the effect of educational intervention on parenting self‑efficacy in parents of primary school students.

This quasi‑experimental study was conducted on 104 parents of primary school students in Khomeini Shahr city, Isfahan province of Iran, in 2017. In this study, 104 parents (52 couples) of primary school students were selected and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Then, an educational intervention was implemented in the experimental group during 6 sessions of 2 h while the control group received only the usual family school education program. The parenting self‑efficacy was measured before the intervention and 2 months afterward. The data were analyzed by independent t‑test, paired t‑test.

There was no statistically significant difference between the demographic variables of parents in both groups. Both the experimental and control groups were similar in terms of age, number of children, education, and employment as well as parenting self‑efficacy. Two months after the intervention, the mean of total parenting self‑efficacy, as well as play and entertainment with the child, discipline and boundaries, self‑acceptance, learning and knowledge in the experimental group, were significantly higher than the control group, but the mean scores of other areas were not significantly different between the two groups (P > 0.05).

Educational interventions that engage parents in group task and facilitate expression of experiences, are feasible in the primary school meetings and have a helpful effect on parenting self‑efficacy.