An exploratory study on the effectiveness and experience of a parent enhancement group adopting a narrative approach

Abstract

Summary

Parent education has been gathering momentum in Hong Kong since its inception in the 1970s; however, much emphasis has been put on imparting childrearing knowledge and skills to parents rather than facilitating the reorganization of parents’ lived experiences and their identity development. Based on the results of an exploratory study conducted in Hong Kong, this article discusses the possible outcomes and experiences of a parent enhancement group adopting a narrative approach. The group comprised three, 5-hour sessions held weekly. The participants included 20 Hong Kong parents with at least one child in preschool. Through the adoption of a pretest–posttest design coupled with a 6-month follow-up survey and three post-intervention focus groups, the study attempted to examine the effects of the program and the subjective experiences of the participants.

Findings

The quantitative results showed that the group might have positive impacts on the enhancement of parental satisfaction, parental efficacy, and parent–child relationships. The qualitative findings indicated that the group might help develop the parent identity through strengthening the parent–child relational connection and integration of parents’ life stories. The participants also had a deeper understanding of the impact of parents’ personal growth on their parenting practice and children’s development.

Applications

The findings offer a knowledge base for evaluating this approach to parent enhancement programs. Of particular importance are its transformative effect, retention effect, ripple effect, and empowerment effect. The findings also provide reference materials for practitioners to rethink the direction of parent education.