Tuning In To Kids | Parents

What parents are saying

‘I felt there has been a free flow of information from my child — there is more willingness to discuss things that have happened during the day, both good and bad, happy and sad etc.’

‘The idea of emotion coaching was easy to understand, but felt very strange doing it at first’

‘The entire family is now more conscious of their own and other’s feelings/emotions.’

The Research

A number of studies have been undertaken to evaluate the Tuning in to Kids program. The main research trial with parents of preschool children has been published in a number of journals. The following is a summary of these findings.

Study overview: This study evaluated a new prevention and early intervention parenting program: Tuning in to Kids. The program aims to improve emotion socialization practices in parents of preschool children and is based on research evidence that parents’ responses to, and coaching of their children’s emotions influence emotional and behavioral functioning in children.

Method of the Study: 216 primary caregiver parents of children aged 4.0 – 5.11 years were randomized into an intervention or waitlist control group. Parents in the intervention condition attended a 6-session group parenting program plus two booster sessions. Assessment occurred pre-intervention, post-intervention and at 6-month follow-up. Questionnaires assessed parent emotion awareness and regulation, parent beliefs and practices of emotion socialization (emotion dismissing, emotion coaching, empathy) and child behavior (parent and teacher report). Observation of emotion socialization practices and child emotional knowledge was conducted pre-intervention and at follow-up with 161 parent-child dyads.

Results of the Study: Parents who received the Tuning in to Kids program improved in their ability to respond to children’s emotions in supportive and teaching ways. They were also much less likely to be dismissive or critical when their children were emotional. Furthermore, children of parents participating in the program experienced significant reductions in behaviour problems, especially in those families where the child was having behaviour problems before the program began. Ninety-two percent of parents completed the program — suggesting a high level of engagement.

Conclusions of the Study: This study provides support for the Tuning in to Kids program. This prevention program targeting parents’ own emotion awareness and regulation, as well as emotional communication in parent-child relationships, is a promising addition to available parenting programs.

Other studies with parents of primary school aged children with behaviour problems and parents of pre-adolescent children are nearing completion.