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Despite the important implications for families, limited research has examined how workplace environments influence parenting behavior. Situated within the Work–Home Resources Model, the purpose of this study was to investigate (a) whether workplace flexibility, a contextual resource, predicts positive parenting behavior, a home outcome, and (b) whether work–family guilt mediates this relationship. A sample of working mothers with children between the ages of 1 and 18 (N = 302) completed an online survey. Linear regression analyses indicated perceived workplace flexibility predicted overall positive parenting, positive reinforcement, and warmth behaviors in working mothers, but not proactive parenting or supportiveness. Ordinary least squares (OLS) path analyses indicated work–family guilt did not mediate these relationships, but was significantly associated with workplace flexibility, indicating workplace flexibility had a significant negative effect on work–family guilt. The results of this study provide preliminary evidence that mothers’ workplace flexibility may influence positive parenting behaviors; thus, policies that promote flexible work arrangements could promote positive family outcomes and reduce feelings of guilt related to work and family life.

Parents ‘matter’ to schools for their child’s education and parents ‘matter’ in relation to their child’s wellbeing. Indeed, in his synthesis of over 800 studies, Hattie (2008) equated the benefits of parental engagement with schools as being equivalent to adding two or three further years to their education. The aim of this chapter, therefore, is to look at parents in relation to wellbeing through positive education and, as part of this, the concept of positive psychology parenting too. Drawing on scientific research, the benefits of positive psychology to parents and families, alongside some of the ‘why’ and ‘how’ parents can better engage with schools, will be presented. A Positive Psychology in Practice case study of Bounce Back, a freely available, online introduction to positive psychology designed to give parents and carers an introduction to several different concepts, approaches, and hands-on techniques, based on the principles of positive psychology, will also be provided. This case study will also present Bounce Back as an intervention, giving parents and carers practical advice on how best to use this online resource, as well as information on how to implement some of the wider ideas from positive education at home to help them better understand, and intervene in, their own and their family’s wellbeing.

Research suggests that children in Hong Kong are at an elevated risk of emotional problems. Authoritarian parenting, a common parenting style in Hong Kong, is a critical factor associated with childhood mental health problems. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of the 6As Positive Parenting Program (6As) in modifying parenting attitudes, reduction of parenting stress and increasing self-efficacy in positive parenting, among a sample of 82 Hong Kong parents. 6As focuses on prevention by instilling positive parenting beliefs and principles, thereby reducing reliance on authoritarian and related parenting styles.

The program was evaluated using a controlled pre-post-treatment design. Outcome measures were the Chinese Child-rearing Beliefs Questionnaire, Parental Stress Scale, Parenting Self-efficacy Scale and participant feedback. ANOVA and correlation were utilized to detect treatment effects and relationships between the degree of change among measures and subscales.

Relative to the control group, the 6As Positive Parenting Program significantly changed parents’ parenting attitudes, reduced parenting stress and increased self-efficacy in positive parenting. In sum, 97.6 percent of the participants agreed that the program is a good fit for the Hong Kong culture.

A larger sample would have been desirable for this study. One factor that limited analyzable data was that some of the participating organizations enrolled participants into the program who did not meet research inclusion criteria. Furthermore, the size of groups varied from 5 to 16 participants, which may have produced different group dynamics that added variability to outcomes. Future 6As parenting program research should attempt to standardize group size or to directly compare the effectiveness of smaller vs larger groups. Furthermore, as noted earlier, the research was conducted during the primary school application period, which may have heightened the parenting stress for parents of younger children.

The results suggest that an enhanced belief in authoritative, autonomy and training strategies could reduce parental stress and shift parents’ attitude toward a more positive approach in child-rearing.

There is considerable need for a holistically designed parenting training that is culturally credible and sensitive.

Findings suggest that positive parenting can enhance the parent–child relationship and reduce parental stress. The results support governmental, non-governmental organizational and community focus on positive practices for parenting training in Hong Kong.

The primary aim of this chapter is to explore stigmatization, stress, and coping among adolescent mothers and to identify positive coping mechanisms that not only resist stigmatization but also generate positive affect.

Fifty-two pregnant and parenting adolescents in an urban county in the Midwestern United States were recruited to participate. A journaling tool was developed and used to allow participants to express their thoughts and concerns in a real-time, reflexive manner. Data were coded at different “nodes” or themes. Concepts, such as stigma, stress, strength, and empowerment were operationalized into key words and “themes” based on previous published literature. Key phrases were used to code the journaling data.

Adolescent mothers used positive reappraisal of life circumstances to create a positive self-image and resist the stress of stigma and parenting. Overcoming stereotypes and success in parenting were reappraised as “strength,” which allowed the young women to feel empowered in their caregiving role.

The chapter also contributes to the sociological literature on positive coping responses to stigma and stress. Indeed, very few studies have employed the sociological imagination of pregnant and parenting adolescents by describing not only their lives but also seeking their understanding and explaining their lives sociologically. This chapter also has direct implications for several health care providers, including nurses and social workers. For example, nurses and social workers are a vital part of the healthcare team for pregnant and parenting adolescents, and they often serve as the link between the adolescent, her family and significant others, and healthcare and social service agencies.

This chapter described the mechanisms that adolescent mothers use to cope with stress with a focus on how caregiving generates positive affect through the voices of these young mothers themselves. This chapter contributed to the sociological literature on stress and coping. In particular, our findings were also in line with the work of sociologist Antonovsky’s Sense of Coherence concept. SOC is a global measure that indicates the availability of, and willingness to use, adaptive coping resources as a key variable in maintaining health.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive initial evaluation of the changing issuer objective and partial price adjustment hypotheses as applied to carve‐out parent initial and three‐year returns for the period 1988‐2006.

Using five primary variables: the percentage of the subsidiary retained by the parent, the ratio of offering size to parent market capitalization, filing range adjustments, the percentage of the offering used to retire subsidiary debt or to pay dividends, and the CBOE volatility index to predict initial and three‐year returns, the paper shows that ex ante variables can predict carve‐out parent initial and three‐year returns.

The paper shows that public information known prior to the offer date influences 7.52 percent of the variation in announcement, 5.57‐38.31 percent of the variation in ex‐date and 6 percent of the variation in three‐year market‐adjusted equity carve‐out parent returns.

This study makes several contributions to the literature. Although prior studies focus on ex post determinants of equity carve‐out returns, this study is the first to explore ex ante predictors of equity carve‐out parent returns. The implications of these results are that publicly available information known prior to the carve‐out offering date can influence market‐adjusted initial and three‐year parent carve‐out returns and can explain 6‐17 percent of the variation.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the association between family wealth, positive outlook, and support from significant others, including parents and friends, on self-efficacy and happiness.

The impact of family wealth, social support, and positive outlook on self-efficacy and one’s own happiness is analyzed through the partial least squared method.

There are five essential points that can be drawn from the statistical results. First, parents’ support tends to be more important than friends’ support for individuals’ happiness. Second, individuals that receive more support from parents tend to develop a higher level of self-efficacy. Third, individuals that are in a less wealthy family tend to develop a higher level of self-efficacy. Fourth, parents’ support plays a more important role in developing a higher level of self-efficacy for individuals that are in a less wealthy family than for individuals that are in a wealthier family. Finally, the positive link between happiness and self-efficacy was stronger for individuals in a wealthier family than for individuals in a less wealthy family.

In particular, although individuals in a wealthier family tend to exhibit a lower level of self-efficacy, and happiness alone had no significant impact on self-efficacy, happiness significantly promoted self-efficacy more for individuals in a wealthier family than for individuals in a less wealthy family.

In conclusion, the results from this research provide essential recommendations for individuals regarding the approach to happiness and self-efficacy. The results indicated how significant the role of parents’ support is in one’s happiness and that support from parents is more important for one’s self-efficacy and happiness than support from friends. Furthermore, individuals should be aware that money is not the ultimate answer for happiness and self-efficacy. Individuals in less wealthy families were able to enjoy a higher level of self-efficacy given that they were receiving sufficient support from their parents.

This study found that although individuals in a wealthier family tend to exhibit a lower level of self-efficacy, and happiness alone has no significant impact on self-efficacy, happiness significantly promote self-efficacy more for individuals in a wealthier family than for individuals in a less wealthy family. However, in the less-wealthier family, parents play more significant role and can generate high level of self-efficacy for their children.

This study aims to examine the predictive validity of an adherence measure to Brief Parent Training (BPT) delivered in real‐world settings. BPT promotes effective parenting practices in families with children who either are at an early stage of problem behaviour development or have developed conduct problems.

In a sample of 108 families who received BPT, whether adherence predicted parenting practices and child conduct problems after intervention completion was examined.

The results showed that high ratings of adherence predicted low levels of inconsistent discipline and high levels of appropriate discipline and positive parenting. The combined effect of inconsistent discipline and positive parenting mediated the relationship between adherence and child conduct problems. When the indirect effects were separated, inconsistent discipline functioned as a mediator, whereas positive parenting did not.

Findings indicate that it is possible to develop a sound and feasible parent‐reported measure of adherence to BPT.

This study aimed to look at parents' perceptions of a number of different toy prototypes that represented physical impairments and predictors of these perceptions.

A correlational survey design was used. Parents of children aged 4–10 years who identified their child as having a disability (n = 160) and not as having a disability (n = 166) took part. They rated a number of prototypes for likelihood that their child would enjoy playing with them and completed measures of their responses toward children with disabilities and of their own and their child's direct contact with people with disabilities.

It was found that, among parents of children who did not declare that their child had a disability, the more open the parents were toward disability, the more contact the children had with other children with disabilities and the more likely they were to consider that their child would like to play with a toy prototype representing a physical impairment. This pattern of results was not found among parents who identified their child as having a disability, where instead positive friendship intentions of parents mediated this association.

These findings have implications for theories informing the positive benefits of disability representation.

These findings indicate different paths through which parents might be moved to purchase toys that represent physical impairments for their children.

These findings suggest that representative toys might be associated with an open dialogue around the topic of disability.

This is the first study of the responses of parents to toys that represent physical impairments known to the authors.

The present study examined the role of socio‐demographic and family risk factors as mediators or moderators of the success of parents undertaking a universal group parent training programme for young children. The results showed that parents' capacity to change dysfunctional parenting practices was not moderated by the child's gender, family income, family type, or pre‐intervention level of parental stress, but was partially mediated by changes in parental satisfaction and efficacy. Irrespective of their socio‐demographic background, parents who completed the Triple‐P Positive Parenting Programme were equally likely to succeed in changing their parenting practices. These findings suggest the robustness of intervention effects across a diverse range of parents.

This research assesses the predictive capacity of key factors in the development of family competences: parent-children relationship, family involvement, family resilience and positive parenting. It also aims to establish which are the most discriminating factors between the groups showing the most and the least prosocial behaviours.

The study involves a longitudinal study of one child from 181 families; 155 families in the experimental group and 26 in the control group. Both boys and girls are included and their ages range from 8 to 14 years. The instruments employed are all validated for use with a Spanish population and include Karol Kumpfer’s questionnaires on family competence and the BASC questionnaire.

All of the factors analysed, with the exception of family involvement, proved to be predictive for prosocial behaviour, and the most discriminating among these were: parent-children relationship, family resilience and positive parenting.

One key issue in family prevention programmes is the development of prosocial behaviour. In this sense, the research developed here aims at highlighting protective factors as key to developing a prosocial behaviour.