Έρευνες

Most studies on parenting intervention courses focus on their effect and effectiveness in relation to specific areas of interest. In this study, the Parent Effectiveness Training (PET) workshop is examined in a more holistic manner, in an attempt to shed light on its role as an agent of personal growth. Applying the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) paradigm, six semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore in depth the personal experiences of six mothers of similar socioeconomic background who met the study criteria and successfully attended and completed the workshop. The participating mothers, preworkshop, showed high levels of stress, disillusionment and disorientation. The analysis reveals that their controlling aspect was a major influencing agent in compromising the wellbeing of the family. Post-workshop accounts showed apparent and clear trends towards less control, better problem solving capabilities, improvements on levels of emotional wellbeing and a shift towards warmer and more secure relationships. It is believed that these results were attained through a process of change and becoming, which took place at a deeper experiential level, sensitizing the participants’ level of awareness, empathy, congruence, acceptance and respect. This suggests a process of personal growth in line with the principles of the Humanistic approach and philosophy, which goes beyond the mere attainment of communication skills.

Background: Parent Effectiveness Training (PET) is a person-centered non-punitive parent training programme, created by Dr. Thomas Gordon in the early sixties. It emphasizes on the relationship between parent and child and teaches communication skills based on active listening and self-disclosure in the form of I-messages, as well as conflict resolution skills. The objective of this one group, pre-post design study is to examine a) the characteristics of the parents and families who become involved with the Parent Effectiveness Training (PET) programme and b) the effectiveness of the programme for the parents in regards to their stress in their role as parents, their interaction with their children, as well as their children’s parent-reported difficulties.Method: 30 participants, parents self-referred to a PET certified facilitator and
recruited from 7 different parent groups, running from January 2015 to June 2015 in a suburb of Athens, participated in this study. The parents completed a form regarding demographics, as well as the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) at the beginning and end of the parenting programme. Results: As expected, parents’ pretest scores were non-clinical, indicating that PET served as a preventive intervention. After the end of the PET programme, parents reported significantly lower levels of Parental Stress (p< .001) and all its three subscales, namely Parental Distress (p=.006), Parent-Child Dysfunctional Interaction (p< .001) and Difficult Child (p< .001). Parents also reported a significant decrease in overall child difficulties (p= .031) and in their overall evaluation of their child’s difficulties in emotions, concentration, behaviour or ability to get on with other people (p=.017), as well as in the impact of these difficulties as a burden in the child’s everyday life (p=.007). Conclusion: The present study’s findings indicate that the Parent Effectiveness Training programme is indeed useful as a preventive intervention in the Greek population, since, it has proved effective in reducing parents’ stress in their parenting role, in promoting the parent-child relationship and in reducing children’s difficulties, at least in the short term. Key words: parent effectiveness training, parental stress, parent-child interaction, children difficulties, Greek population, one group pre-post study

The present study touched upon autism, its definition and flexures, as well as its reflection on parenthood. Parenting issues relating to diagnosis, distress, family bonds, and personal growth were reviewed and programs like ABA, TEACCH and PET were briefly presented. Using the IPA qualitative method, the experiences of six mothers of high functioning autistic children under 12 years old -who successfully participated in a Parent Effectiveness Training (PET) seminar conducted in Greece, extending over ten three-hour sessions- were analyzed based on the question: “How parents of high functioning autistic children experience Gordon’s PET?”. The initial efforts of the interviews were focused on their experience from the program and their thoughts and feelings regarding the appropriateness of PET for the autistic community as a valid alternative to behavioural programs, as well as any changes they noticed in themselves, their children or their common interaction. Findings revealed three themes: a) from lost to found, b) beyond the parents known comfort zone, and c) within and between. In more detail, the findings discussed the participants’ journey through their understanding of PET and the attributes they allocated to the seminar, their trip down memory lane describing an inner incongruence when realizing that they were trying to adopt communication skills they themselves had never experienced growing up, to finally unveiling this inner process and their efforts of growing out of it. Further, the findings highlighted the mothers’ new way of interacting with their autistic children, using ‘Active listening’ and ‘I-Messages’ as well as through an internal shift that
seems to have diffused in all of the mothers’ human interactions. Lastly, limitations of the study e.g. chosen method and small number of participants amongst others, were considered.