Date of Award:

5-1991

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Psychology

Committee Chair(s)

Elwin C. Nielsen (Committee Co-Chair), Richley Crapo (Committee Co-Chair)

Committee

Elwin C. Nielsen

Committee

Richley Crapo

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to determine if perceptions of improved family functioning following a behavioral parenting program could be predicted by educational background, income, and pretest knowledge of behavioral principles. Subjects for the study were parents of elementary-school-aged children who volunteered for the parenting classes. Parents who perceived their families as dysfunctional, as measured by the pretest FACES II, were selected as subjects for the study. Parents whose perceptions of their families improved after the parenting class were then compared with parents who did not perceive improvement in their families on the predictor variables.

The results demonstrated that parents whose perceptions of their families improved were not significantly differentiated by income, education, or their knowledge of behavioral principles. These variables were not found to be as predictors to determine which parents would be positively impacted by the parenting program.

The majority of parents did increase their knowledge of behavioral principles from pretest to posttest; however, this was not related to improvement in perceptions of family functioning. Further research is recommended to ascertain what characteristics of parents predict change following parent training.

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