Psychology needs to connect parents with useful research

Society stands to benefit from psychologists? knowledge about research-supported parenting practices.

By Bridget Murray
Monitor staff

Psychologists need to communicate what their research shows about good parent-ing?that time-out forms of discipline work, for example, that self-esteem comes from hard work and that effective use of praise and rewards pays off, said psychologist Anthony Biglan, PhD, in the well-attended session 'Family-based prevention programs for young people' at APA?s 1998 Annual Convention.

Such messages will counter what Biglan considers myths about parenting?the popular notions that all forms of punishment are bad or that rewards and praise are harmful.

'We have in our grasp the ability to affect the prevalence of some of the most major problems in our society,' said Biglan, director of the Center for Community Interventions on Child Rearing at the Oregon Research Institute. 'From a public health perspective, we need to think about the ways in which we can increase the proportion of parents who are parenting effectively.'

A disconnect between psychologists? research and practice has meant that what researchers find works in parenting?for example, that praising children encourages good behavior?fails to permeate popular parenting lore, Biglan said. Instead, Biglan claimed, many parenting educators and popular parenting programs, including the well-known Systematic Training for Effective Parenting of Teens program, tout parenting notions that aren?t backed by research. One of those he cited is the idea that rewards and praise aren?t effective.

Such notions are based on unproven psychological theories from the 1960s and 1970s, and the media and popular parenting books have spread them, he said.

To counter these misconceptions, psychological scientists and practitioners can work together to spread the word about effective, research-based parenting practices, like giving children consistent rewards for specific behaviors, said Biglan. Promoting a research-supported parenting approach will help reduce the incidence of juvenile delinquency, drug use, school dropout and other problems characteristic of youth who are alienated from their parents, according to Biglan and the University of Utah?s James Alexander, PhD, another speaker at the session.

Getting the word out will require researchers to seek more exposure in the media, closer relationships with public policy-makers and increased collaboration with practitioners, said Biglan. In addition, psychologists can advocate for more government funding for their efforts to bridge the gap between research and practice. Funding will enable psychologists to translate their knowledge about good parenting practices into more effective, available training programs, he said.