Smart parenting program on parenting behavior and the risk of behavioral problems among a dyad of school children and their parents

Abstract

The behavior of every child is unpredictable and depends on biological, social and environmental factors. In learning to adjust to the world in which child is growing up, he develops certain kinds of behavior which may be annoying or embarrassing to adults with whom he comes in contact. Hence, adults frequently label such behaviors as problem behaviors.. The conceptual framework for this study was based on the Art of Clinical Nursing Theory by Ernestine Wiedenbach. This framework assisted the researcher in identifying school children with the risk of behavioral problems, ministering the SMART parenting program among the parents of these children, and validating the effectiveness of the intervention. It was inferred that, the perceived parenting behavior of school children among the experimental group, was influenced by the use of electronic gadgets to play games, and by permission granted by their parents to play with electronic gadgets. Limitations: Though the researcher wanted to include all the 129 children who were identified to have risk of behavior problems and their parents in the study, there was case attrition which was beyond the efforts of the researcher. Recommendations: The present study can be carried out among children in private schools. A comparative study can be done between Government and private schools. A survey can be done to identify school children at risk of behavioral problems on a larger population. The same study can be done among other age groups of children like toddlers, pre-schoolers and adolescents. Like the SMART program that was that developed for parents, similar programs can be developed for children at risk of behavioral problems. Conclusion: The SMART parenting program was highly effective in promoting parenting behavior and reducing the risk of behavioral problems among school children. Therefore, it can be widely used by school authorities, by community health nurses and also by pediatric nurses in the hospital settings. newline