关键词: 父母积极教养课程, 父母教养, 儿童, 行为问题, 情绪问题

Abstract: The quality of parenting plays a significant role in the development of children. Positive parenting practices have been shown to result in fewer emotional and behavioral problems, as well as better academic outcomes, self-regulation, social abilities, and language development in children and adolescents. Parenting programs, which are based on social learning models, are widely recognized as the “gold standard” for improving the quality of parenting to prevent behavioral problems and promote physical and mental health in children and adolescents. To better understand this kind of parenting programs and discuss the acceptability for Chinese parents, this paper uses the Positive Parenting Program (Triple P), an evidence-based parenting program, as an exemplar. The principles and content of Triple P draw on a variety of research and theories, including social learning theories, social information processing models, the public health model, and research in child and family behavior therapy, applied behavior analysis, parenting in everyday contexts, and developmental psychopathology. Based on these research and theoretic foundations, Triple P proposed five core positive parenting principles, including having a safe, interesting environment, having a positive learning environment, using assertive discipline, having realistic expectations, and taking care of yourself as a parent, which provides parents with positive strategies to raise their children in a constructive and non-hurtful harmful way. As children have different types and intensity of dysfunctions, Triple P incorporates five levels of intervention with different tailored variants and delivery formats, which could help serve different needs and preferences of parents. Several meta-analyses and systematic reviews of Triple P suggested positive effects of Triple P on parenting practices and children’s adjustments in both short term and long term. Moreover, Triple P has also been implemented and evaluated in China, including Hong Kong and Shanghai. The results support the positive effects of Group Triple P, but for Grandparent Triple P and the Discussion Group Triple P, the effects were limited. In addition, the possible limitations of Triple P were also discussed in the paper. First, the three strategies Triple P provides with parents for building positive relationships with children may not be specific and effective enough for them to deal with conflicts with their children or other complicated parent-child communication situations. Second, the lack of strategies for dealing with emotional problems in children and adolescents might weaken the effects of Triple P on Chinese families, especially because Chinese children had a higher level of internalizing problems than their peers in western countries. Taking the characteristics and needs of Chinese families into account, this paper also discussed the possible challenges researchers and practitioners might encounter when implementing this parenting program in the Chinese context. Considering social and cultural differences between China and western countries, Chinese families might experience several different parenting issues, such as the involvement of grandparents in childrearing and parenting issues relating to migrant and left-behind children. We argue that future research should further explore whether Triple P could help Chinese parents deal with these problems; and further research and adaptations are needed for Triple P to better serve the needs and preferences of Chinese families.

Key words: parenting programs, positive parenting, children, behavioral problems, emotional problems