S.T.O.P. Parent Training; 2009/2010 Update Report
Report evaluators; Anya Byrne, Jenna Richards (Assistant Clinical Psychologist)
Programme authors; Jeannie Gordon (Parenting, Clinical Nurse Specialist), & Mike Kellett (Police Constable).
The Ministry of Parenting
Unit 18,
The Colchester Business Centre,
1 George Williams Way,
Colchester,
Essex
CO1 2JS
Tel/Fax: 01206 562626
Abstract
This article is an evaluation of The STOP Parent Training Programmes that have been running in Essex from 2009-2010. The STOP Programme was originally developed in Essex in the year 2000 by Jeannie Gordon and Mike Kellett and has been running ever since. The aim of the programme is to support parents and carers of young people displaying anti-social behaviours. STOP groups have been running in Essex for parents and carers since 2002, however, the number of parents data analysed in the report is not a true representation of the actual number of parents who have taken part in the STOP programme due to incomplete self-completion questionnaires, both before and after the groups.
Since 2002-2006 evaluations have shown that 244 parents have started the programme, 189 have completed, which would have affected 191 children and these parents found the groups to be very helpful in reducing parental and family stress, increasing relationships, coping and expectations of the group. The analysis and findings from 2007-2008 only consist of data from 50 parents that had taken part in groups, again due to insufficient completion of questionnaires and issues involving follow-up questionnaires.
In 2009-2010, a BME (black and minority ethnic) group was run in Essex as the first of its kind, in response to concerns raised about parenting in the BME community, in a partnership between the Ministry of Parenting (CIC) and TACMEP (Tendring and Colchester Multi Ethnic Partnership) a community development worker was offered to attend training for both the Incredible Years Parenting programme for school-aged children and the STOP programme. This new venture of a multi-ethnic pilot programme was jointly developed and delivered for Chinese and Bangladeshi parents in the Essex community. Overall, 12 parents attended the group, however, only data from 5 was deemed valid enough for analysis, due to language and cultural barriers between the parents and the confusion over the predominantly Westernised questionnaires used to collect the data.One other groups was run in 2009 in the Essex area, in Maldon and data from a group implemented in Wokingham was sent to the author Jeannie Gordon for evaluation. Overall only 9 of the Maldon parents’ results were valid enough for analysis, due to missing answers in the questionnaires and missing post questionnaires. From the Wokingham group, 11 parents’ data was analysed, again the number of the group was more, however due to the questionnaires being incorrectly filled in and missing data, only 11 parents had full, correct results which could be analysed.
In addition there were 19 parents whose results could be used from the STOP groups conducted in West Berkshire in 2009/2010.
Overall, the 2009/2010 results, although limited, have been positive and show that improvements have been made and have improved family stress levels, rates of parents coping andthe expectations of the impact of the group, thus showing that The STOP Parent Training Programme can be a success.
This article will also discuss the practitioners trained in the STOP programme, how many there are and to what level they are trained, and whether or not they are actively facilitating groups.
Introduction
A parenting program, like STOP, involves a complex process of attempting to raise awareness about parenting and teach techniques to parents and carers by having them participate in a series of group sessions which are run by a trained facilitator, which may include group discussions, feedback, videos, role play and homework, to help parents find ways to improve their parenting or to affirm their own parenting methods.
Research in this area is of high interest and there is much evidence suggesting that these parenting programs are a great success. Research has shown that parenting programmes are an effective approach to support both parents and young people in making positive changes to family behaviours as well as promoting mental wellbeing and reducing the risk of domestic abuse. Good parental skills and parental education lead to long term benefits in reducing neglect, abuse, criminal and anti-social behaviour in young adults, as well as improving maternal and paternal mental health, education and employment outcomes.
These parent training programmes are of high importance as recent figures have shown that anti-social behaviours, emotional problems and conduct disorders are on the increase. There are more problems in the home, where parental stress levels and child behaviours are linked, in the community and in schools, as higher levels of conduct disorders have lead to an increase in drug and alcohol abuse and negative behaviours that impact on society as a whole.
The aim of these parent training interventions is to reduce problems by strengthening and improving skills such as parent management and timing of parental skills by modifying and encouraging positive parent-child interactions, this in turn, will increase child and adolescent pro-social behaviours and decrease oppositional or anti-social behaviour. The main aim of these programmes is to teach the parents to change or improve their behaviour, which in turn changes their children’s and adolescents behaviours (Social Learning Theory).
Supporting Together Offenders’ Parents (STOP) is group-based programme that was developed in early 2000 by Jeannie Gordon (Clinical Nurse Specialist) and Mike Kellett (Police Constable). The philosophy of the STOP Programme was influenced by Carolyn Webster-Stratton’s principles and The Incredible Years Series, which focuses on more preventative methods for younger children. The content of this curriculum is based on the experiences of the clinical and research efforts by numerous therapists and colleagues in Essex, the United Kingdom and Worldwide, especially the work of the Roller Coaster Project which was developed from a multi-agency working party (1999).
STOP is a programme which was originally designed for parents who have had, or are at risk of having contact with the police or youth offender service; however it is now used in all different kinds of settings, including schools and community settings delivered to parents of children/adolescents with challenging behaviours as a preventative method. In the UK today there are 7.6 million adolescents. Puberty and adolescence can be a very difficult and stressful time for both young people and their families, including changes in family life such as shifts in family relationships, huge physical and emotional upheaval and key influences from peers. During this time the young persons challenging behaviour can increase, which can result in adolescents becoming involved in criminal activities and the wider culture of alcohol and drug misuse. If this challenging behaviour manifests, there is a chance that these young people can be excluded from school, which in turn increases the likelihood of these young people participating in criminal activities, resulting in prison sentences and the development of serious behavioural problems and conduct disorders (an age inappropriate disruptive and anti-social behaviour including high rates of compositionality, defiance and aggression, which can lead to unhappiness, low self esteem and poor academic performance in the short term and aggression, drug abuse, depression and criminal and violent behaviour in the long term). Due to this, there needs to be more opportunities to allow parents to share knowledge, discuss general troubles and develop a better awareness of young people’s transition into adulthood, this is why The STOP Parent Training Programme has been developed.
Before the development of STOP there was no known group based parenting programme to support parents of young people who were showing challenging behaviour. The STOP Parent Training Programme is a 10 week programme for parents of children/adolescents aged 11-16 years old. There is an addition two sessions which can be added to the 10 week programme or exchanged for two of the set sessions- the notion is then the programme can be more targeted to the needs of the parents attending the individual groups.
The STOP programme aims to have 10-16 parents per group and each session lasts approximately two hours. The programme sets out to support parents and to help them support their core relationship with their child/adolescent both in the short term and the long term. This is done by offering parents aid and teaching to help them better understand their adolescent child by encouraging them to improve their listening, praise and encouragement skills, giving them information and teaching about practical ways to cope with their child/adolescents behaviour, practical ways to deal with confrontational situations, reassurance about their role, a realistic understanding of what should be expected of a parent or carer and a better understanding about peer influences on young people. The Programme follows a ten week outline of; making the change, missing the hook, listening, praise and encouragement, problem solving, setting the limits, drugs, what do you need to know, living as a parent, putting it all together and a programme review.
These therapeutic methods look at reducing anti-social behaviour, averting personal distress and enhancing individual and social skills, thus improving the quality of family life. What is important is that The STOP Parent Training Programme places its emphasis on what the parent is doing well, thus empowering the parent to then take the next step in improving what they feel they are not doing as well.
The STOP Parent Training Programme is run by a group facilitator, whose purpose is to facilitate the group, by building up a reciprocal relationship, equally using their own knowledge and the group’s strengths and perspectives. By doing this the group facilitator will build an environment of trust, enabling parents in the group to feel safe and be able to experiment with the strategies and techniques offered. The group facilitator in the STOP programme is expected to have a background in working with adolescents and their families, have undertaken a Group Facilitators Foundation Course (preferably at a credible level), they should have excellent interpersonal skills and an understanding in social learning theory and good listening skills. The group facilitator also needs to bear in mind that the information should be delivered tailor made to the individual client group.
The STOP Parent Training Programmes aim is not to focus on the adolescent’s anti-social or challenging behaviour, but to reduce the levels of stress within the family to a manageable level. STOP believes that children, adolescents and parents within a family all have their own individual rights protected, adolescents need to grow and formulate their own ideas both moral and social, and parents have their individual rights too, all these needs must be respected by all family members and society as a whole.
The STOP Parent Training Programme was originally devised and piloted in Essex in January 2000; it was delivered as a joint innovation by the Essex Youth Offending Service and North Essex Partnership Foundation Trust. Following two successful pilot schemes the programme was implemented across Essex in 2002. Since then, STOP Parent Training Programmes have also run in Sussex, West Berkshire and Oxford. In West Berkshire, John Rivers (CAMHS Parenting Team Manger) has helped implement STOP and develop the parent training programme further.
The STOP Programme has been running in West Berkshire since September 2006, this covers the areas of Reading, Wokingham and Newbury Local Authorities. Initially in West Berkshire the STOP Parent Training Programme was only being offered as part of a tier three specialist service for children referred to CAMHS, however, due to the West Berkshire CAMHS parenting team becoming accredited trainers, the programme is now being delivered more universally. From September 2006 to 2008 the West Berkshire CAMHS STOP leaders have facilitated 13 groups, for the parents of 97 referred children. Within these 13 groups, approximately 130 individual parents have attended including approximately 50 couples. In 2009/2010, 31 parents attended STOP groups in West Berkshire, evaluation of 19 of these parents is shown in the results section of this article.
Pre and post evaluations in West Berkshire have showed a reduction in family and parental stress scores after taking part in the group. Feedback from parents attending the West Berkshire STOP Parent Training Programmes has also been positive, parents commented that the programme was very supportive, having a huge impact on both their children’s behaviour and how they see themselves as a parent.
This report aims to investigate whether The STOP Parent Training Programmes run in Essex from 2009-2010 have been statistically significant, however, it must be noted that this report does not truly represent the number of parents who have participated in the STOP programme due to some incomplete pre and post evaluation forms.
Aims
The STOP Parent Training Programme aims to;
(1)Encourage and help parents to obtain a greater understand about the development process of their adolescent child.
(2)Help parents to develop a greater appreciation and practice of listening skills.
(3)Help parents develop important encouragement and praise skills.
(4)To provide practical strategies for parents to use with their adolescents.
(5)To become more effective in dealing with confrontations with their adolescents.
(6)Enable parents to have more realistic expectations of themselves as a parent.
(7)Help parents understand and gain a greater awareness of the peer influences on their adolescent.
Method
Participants
The table below (Figure 1) summarises the number of STOP programme participants in 2009/2010 whose results were correctly filled in and valid enough to use in analysis.
Figure 1
STOP Group / Parents Total / Children Total / Male Children / Female ChildrenBME / 12 / 24 / 11 / 13
Wokingham / 11
Maldon / 9
West Berkshire / 19
Design
All information was collected by self completion questionnaires designed for the STOP programme. Parents provided information about themselves and their family life to illustrate any similarities and differences in the backgrounds of the families attending the group, they also provided information that was designed to assess whether the group and its techniques would have an impact on stressand coping levels, relationships, and expectations. Self evaluation questionnaires were administered pre and post the group, as well as weekly evaluations to find out what the parents thought about the group discussions, the context of the group and the group leaders. The questionnairesincluded questions giving parents a chance to report on their child’s difficult behaviours which were measured using an intensity and problem scale (the Eyberg Child Behaviour Inventory (ECBI)), and questions relating to what the parent thought their child’s strengths and difficulties were and in what areas (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires (SDQ)).
The Eyberg Child Behaviour Inventory (ECBI) is a tool used to assess parental reports of conduct behaviour problems in children and adolescents aged 2-16. It is a 36 item questionnaire that represents common behaviours found in all children and measures them in two scales. A seven point intensity scale used to identify how often the problem occurs and a yes/no problem scale that identifies whether the behaviour is problematic for the parent. The variety and frequency of the results determine normal behaviour from conduct disorder behaviours.
The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) consist of 25 attributes that divide into five subscales; emotional problems, conduct problems, hyperactivity, peer relationship problems, and pro-social behaviour. It measures the difficulties that parents think their child/children are having at the time. Included in this questionnaire is the Diagnostic SDQ, these scores are produced when the results of the SDQ are coded and analysed. It predicts the likelihood of the child being diagnosed with one of the following disorders; psychiatric, emotional, conduct or a hyperactivity disorder.
The Parent Scales questionnaire is the tool that can be used to conduct a pre and post analysis. It asks five questions about personal stress level, family stress level, relationship with teenager, rate of coping and expectations of the group on a ten point scoring scale (1 for very low and 10 for very high).
All parents attending the group filled in the self-completion questionnaires pre and post the group. All participants were kept anonymous by being coded with an I.D. number, the data collected was entered into Microsoft Excel and analysed in the statistical package SPSS (15).