Parent effectiveness training with Hong Kong Chinese parents in a school setting: An exploratory qualitative study

Abstract

Developing and maintaining good family relationships is associated with higher levels of wellbeing in children. This may be particularly the case in Hong Kong, where the state of children’s mental health is poor, community services are limited, and help-seeking is stigmatized. School counselors, however, are well placed to facilitate parenting programs. Five Hong Kong Chinese parents who had completed a parenting course based on humanistic counseling principles in a school setting were interviewed. The data were analyzed using an interpretive phenomenological approach. Participants developed a repertoire of new skills and experienced a change in perception of their parental role, which they associated with improved child-parent relationships. A small, cohesive, and culturally validating group enabled them to develop and sustain new behaviors consistent with this new conceptualization of parenting. Offering parenting programs in a school setting with Asian parents may be an effective way for school counselors to work with parents.