Impacts of a Book Reading Club Intervention on Enhancing Parents’ Positive Thinking

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of participating in a book reading club on improving parents’ positive interactions with children and positive thinking. A total of 85 parent volunteers were randomized into the experimental or comparison group. The Parent Questionnaire was used to measure positive thinking and interaction with children. Additionally interview results were used to triangulate and elucidate the findings. The findings revealed a positive impact on parents’ positive thinking and interaction with children and that these were significant predictors of parents’ positive thinking. Implications and recommendations are presented.

Keywords

book reading club parent–child interaction positive thinking

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Peterson

Tice

Bolling

Koening

(2004) Faith-based and secular pathways to hope and optimism subconstructs in middle-aged and older cardiac patients. Journal of Health Psychology 9(3): 435–450.

Ateah

(2003) Disciplinary practices with children: Parental sources of information, attitudes, and educational needs. Issues in Comprehensive Pediatric Nursing 26(2): 89–101.

Baumrind

(1991) The influence of parenting style on adolescent competence and substance use. Journal of Early Adolescence 11(1): 56–95.

Berg

Snyder

Hamilton

(2008) The effectiveness of a hope intervention in coping with cold pressor pain. Journal of Health Psychology 13(6): 804–809.

Caprara

Steca

Gerbino

Paciello

Vecchio

(2006) Looking for adolescents’ well-being: Self-efficacy beliefs as determinants of positive thinking and happiness. Epidemiologia e Psichiatria Sociale 15(1): 30–43.

Carver

Scheier

(2002) Optimism. In: Snyder

Lopez

(eds) Handbook of Positive Psychology. New York:Oxford University Press, 231–243.

Cohen

(1988) Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Derogatis

Lopman

Rickels

Ulenhuth

Covi

(1974) The Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL). Modern Problems in Pharmacopsychiatry 7: 79–110.

Des Jarlais

Lyles

Crepaz

(2004) Improving the reporting quality of nonrandomized evaluations of behavioral and public health interventions: The TREND statement. American Journal of Public Health 94(3): 361–366.

10.

Diener

(2000) Subjective well-being: The science of happiness and proposal for a national index. American Psychologist 55(1): 34–43.

11.

Diener

Suh

Lucas

Smith

(1999) Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin 125(2): 276–302.

12.

Falk

Storksieck

Dierking

(2007) Investigating public science interest and understanding: Evidence for the importance of free-choice learning. Public Understanding of Science 16 (4): 455–469.

13.

Fantuzzo

King

Heller

(1992) Effects of reciprocal peer tutoring on mathematics and school adjustment: A component analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology 84(3): 331–339.

14.

Fraser

(1998) Classroom environment instruments: Development, validity and applications. Learning Environments Research 1(1): 7–34.

15.

Gecas

Schwalbe

(1986) Parental behavior and adolescent self-esteem. Journal of Marriage and the Family 48(1): 37–46.

16.

Greenfield

(2009) Technology and informal education: What is taught, what is learned. Science 323(5910): 69–71.

17.

Halloran

Ross

Carey

(2002) The relationship of adolescent personality and family environment to psychiatric diagnosis. Child Psychiatry and Human Development 32(3): 201–216.

18.

Hales

(1990) Valuing the self: Understanding the nature of self-esteem. The Saybrook Perspective 4(Winter): 3–17.

19.

Hong

(2010) Effects of a collaborative science intervention on high achieving students’ learning anxiety and attitudes toward science. International Journal of Science Education 32(15): 1971–1988.

20.

Hong

Lin

(2011) An investigation of students’ personality traits and attitudes toward science. International Journal of Science Education 33(7): 1001–1028.

21.

Hong

Lin

McCarthy Veach

(2008) Effects of an extracurricular science intervention on science performance, self-worth, social skills, and sexist attitudes of Taiwanese adolescents from single-parent families. Sex Roles 59(7–8): 555–567.

22.

Johnson

(1999) Learning Together and Alone: Cooperative, Competitive and Individualistic Learning. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

23.

Koepke

Williams

(1989) Child-rearing information: Resources parents use. Family Relations 38(4): 462–465.

24.

Lawshe

(1975) A quantitative approach to content validity. Personnel Psychology 28(4): 563–575.

25.

Le Camus

(1995) Les interactions père–enfant en milieu aquatique (Father–child interactions in an aquatic setting). Revue international de pédiatrie 255: 7–17.

26.

Lin

Hong

Wang

Lee

(in press) Using reflective peer assessment to promote students’ conceptual understanding through asynchronous discussions. Educational Technology & Society.

27.

Luthans

(2002) Positive organizational behavior: Developing and managing psychological strengths. Academy of Management Executive 16(1): 57–72.

28.

Marks

(2010) Publication guidelines for intervention studies in the Journal of Health Psychology. Journal of Health Psychology 15(1): 5–7.

29.

McCarney

Warner

Iliffe

Van Haselen

Griffin

Fisher

(2007) The Hawthorne Effect: A randomized, controlled trail. BMC Medical Research Methodology published online 2007 July 3. Doi:10.1186/1471-2288-7-3010.1186/1471-2288-7-30.

30.

Paquette

(2004) Theorizing the father–child relationship: Mechanisms and developmental outcomes. Human Development 47(4): 193–219.

31.

Patton

(2002) Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.

32.

Peterson

(2000) The future of optimism. American Psychologist 55(1): 44–55.

33.

Sasson

(2010) The Power of Positive Thinking. Available at:http://www.successconsciousness.com/index_000009.htm.

34.

Schaefer

Kornienko

(2009) Building cohesion in positively connected exchange networks. Social Psychology Quarterly 72(4): 384–402.

35.

Schmidt

Raque-Bogdan

Piontkowski

Schaefer

(2011) Putting the positive in health psychology: A content analysis of three journals. Journal of Health Psychology 16(4): 607–620.

36.

Seligman

MEP

(2002) Positive psychology, positive prevention, and positive therapy. In: Snyder

Lopez

(eds) Handbook of Positive Psychology. New York:Oxford University Press, 3–9.

37.

Seligman

MEP

(2003) Foreword: The past and future of positive psychology. In: Keyes

Haidt

(eds) In Flourishing: A Positive Psychology and the Life Well-Lived. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, xi–xx.

38.

Seligman

MEP

Csikszentimihalyi

(2000) Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist 55(1): 5–14.

39.

Sheldon

King

(2001) Why positive psychology is necessary? American Psychologist 56(3): 216–217.

40.

Snyder

(2000) Handbook of Hope. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

41.

Spiker

Boyce

(2002) Parent–child interactions when young children have disabilities. In: Glidden

(ed.) International Review of Research in Mental Retardation, vol. 25. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 35–70.

42.

Tabachnick

Fidell

(2001) Using Multivariatestatistics. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

43.

Von Lengerke

(2006) Public health is an interdiscipline, and about wholes and parts: Indeed, critical health psychology needs to join forces. Journal of Health Psychology 11(3): 395–399.

44.

Walsh

(2002) Spankers and nonspankers: Where do they get information on spanking? Family Relations 51(1): 81–88.

45.

Young

Davis

Schoen

Parker

(1998) Listening to parents: A national survey of parents with young children. Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine 152(3): 255–262.

46.

Zhou

Eisenberg

Losoya

. (2002) The relations of parental warmth and positive expressiveness to children’s empathy-related responding and social functioning: A longitudinal study. Child Development 73(3): 893–915.