The preliminary research study on the impact of the 101s: A guide to positive discipline parent training on parenting practices and preschooler’s executive function

Abstract

In Thailand, an effective intervention program is in urgent need for improving parenting practices. The aims of the study were to investigate the impact of the 101s: A Guide to Positive Discipline program (The 101s), the US national-awarded program for providing a child with positive discipline in a nurturing environment to promote children's brain and psychological development, on Thai parenting skills and preschoolers' executive function (EF) skills, a set of mental and cognitive skills related to goal-directed behaviors and school readiness and success. An ex-post factor, control group, posttest only design was used to address the aims of the research. Simple random sampling and matching methods were utilized to choose a control school. The sample was 27 parents in the intervention group who had participated in the 101s training for at least 8 months, 27 parents in the control group, and their 3 to 5-year-old preschoolers. The parent sample rated self-parenting practices using The 101s Parent Interaction Checklist (PIC) and rated their preschoolers' EF skills using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool Version (BRIEF-P). A series of multivariate analysis of covariance were performed to compare the mean differences in parenting practices and EF skills between the intervention and control groups. The preliminary results showed the positive impact of the 101s parent training on parenting practices and preschoolers' EF skills. The results indicated that the parents in the intervention group significantly had higher mean scores on positive parenting practices and lower mean scores on negative discipline, comparing to the parents in the control group. Likewise, the preschoolers in the intervention group significantly had better mean scores on EF skills, comparing to the preschoolers in the control group. These findings support the major effects of the 101s Positive Discipline training program on parenting practices and preschoolers' EF skills.