Previous research studies have demonstrated the link between parents’ education and parental stress level. However, these studies have not taken parents’ goal orientation into consideration. Based on the framework of goal orientation theory, we examined how parents’ goals would interact with parents’ education to affect perceived parental stress in face of children’s upsetting school experience. Participants were 189 parents of Hong Kong Chinese children studying in kindergartens. Using an experimental design, parents with various education backgrounds were randomly assigned to mastery or performance goals manipulation. The interaction between parents’ goals and parents’ education on perceived parental stress was investigated. Results from the two-way ANOVA indicated the significant main effect of parents’ goals, while the main effect of parents’ education and the interaction effect between parents’ goals and parents’ education were both nonsignificant. Regardless of parents’ education, parents in the performance goals condition reported significantly higher parental stress than those in the mastery goals condition. The findings highlight the utility of fostering parents’ mastery goal orientation to improve their well-being and capacity to cope with children’s academic setback. Copyright © 2020 Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada, Lisboa and Springer Nature B.V.

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.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-1079]