Based on a qualitative analysis of a group of parents' perceived outcomes and experiences in a parent education program in Hong Kong, this paper discusses how a transformative approach provides a new frame of reference from which to explore the new directions of parent education. The research findings suggest that parent transformation can be achieved in numerous ways comprising consciousness raising, growth facilitation, life integration, relationship enhancement, support generation and community building. The findings provide a knowledge base for an investigation of its applicability. They also offer reference materials to guide other parent education practitioners in applying the transformative approach in actual practice.
[Copyright of Journal of Social Work Practice: psychotherapeutic approaches in health, welfare and the community is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02650533.2012.732046]

Background Entering primary school is an important childhood milestone, marking the beginning of a child's formal education. Yet the change creates a time of vulnerability for the child, the parents and the parent--child relationship. Failure to adjust to the transition may place the family in a psychologically devastating position. The aims of this study were to test the effectiveness of a parental training programme in enhancing the parent--child relationship and decreasing parental stress by reducing harsh parenting in preparing children for the transition to primary school. Methods A randomised controlled trial incorporating a two-group pre-test and repeated post-test was conducted in one of the largest public housing estates in Hong Kong. A total of 142 parents were recruited, with 72 parents randomly assigned to the experimental group and 70 to the control group. Harsh parenting practices, parent--child relationships and parental stress were assessed. Results In comparison to parents in the control group, those in the experimental group engaged in less harsh parenting practices and reported better parent--child relationships. However, parental stress scores did not differ significantly between the two groups. Conclusion This study addressed a gap in the literature by examining the effectiveness of the training programme for enhancing parent--child relationship and decreasing parental stress at the time of a child's transition to primary school. The findings from this study provide empirical evidence of the effectiveness of the parental training programme and highlight the significance of parenting in promoting a smooth transition for children from kindergarten to primary 1.
[Copyright of BMC Public Health is the property of BioMed Central Ltd. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-1079]

In Hong Kong, the knowledge of multiple family groups (MFGs) among social workers has been limited, in particular, in adapting MFG activities to a Chinese context. In this paper, we describe our experience of employing this group approach to assist Chinese parents who are taking care of children with special needs; state the challenges of implementing it and report the families' perception of helpful and unhelpful aspects of the MFG experience. In the perspective of the parents, two activities, namely preparing a joint meal and surrogate parenting have proven efficacious for parents to understand their child's strengths and explore alternate ways of parenting.
[Copyright of Journal of Social Work Practice: psychotherapeutic approaches in health, welfare and the community is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02650533.2012.706217]

Research Findings: The purpose of this study was to examine parenting style in the domain of emotion socialization through studying the relationships among parenting styles, emotion-related parental practices, and parental goals of Hong Kong-Chinese mothers. Data were collected from 189 Hong Kong-Chinese mothers of 6- to 8-year-old children. Hong Kong-Chinese mothers reported that among authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive parenting styles, they adopted an authoritative style most often and an authoritarian style least often. They valued both relational and individualistic emotional competence of their children as parental goals but regarded the former as more important than the latter. Structural equation modeling results indicated that parental goals mediated the influences of parenting styles on parental practices. Authoritative mothers who held individualistic emotional competence goals adopted different parental practices (a coaching or an emotion-encouraging approach) from those who held relational emotional competence goals. When mothers adopted authoritarian parenting and endorsed relational emotional competence as a parental goal, they responded to children's expression of emotions in a dismissing way.
Practice or Policy: Parenting styles play an overarching role in emotion socialization, influencing both parental practices and goals. The results imply that school personnel, counselors, or social workers should take into account parenting styles, parental goals, and cultural values of participants when they offer training programs to parents.
[Copyright of Early Education & Development is the property of Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10409280802541973]

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among parental goals, parental beliefs and parenting styles. Questionnaires were completed during interviews with 189 Hong Kong-Chinese mothers of children aged six to eight years. Results indicated that these mothers embraced Chinese parental beliefs (guan) and Chinese parental goals of filial piety and harmonious social relationships. In contrast to other studies on Chinese parenting, this study examined Chinese mothers' adoption of psychological control in addition to authoritarian and authoritative parenting. Participants' main styles were found to be authoritative and psychologically controlling rather than authoritarian as reported in previous research. Parental goals were found to mediate the effect of parental beliefs on adoption of parenting styles. Mothers who embraced guan and filial piety reported either an authoritarian or a psychologically controlling parenting style, while those who embraced guan and harmonious social relationships adopted an authoritative parenting style.
[Copyright of Early Child Development and Care is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03004430701536525]

This article examines the issue of children with a disability who are 'informally integrated' into mainstream school. Its main purpose is to reflect the views and experiences of parents, and to identify the major difficulties that arise and their suggestions for ameliorating the situation. The data is based on a series of interviews and focus groups of parents. In order to provide a balanced perspective, responses of schools to a questionnaire were also included. Teachers were asked to express their views about integrated education. These responses were then categorised. It was found that lack of resources and training predominated.
[Copyright of Disability & Society is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09687599925885]