Effective early intervention for parental stress: parenting the Strong-Willed Child/ Group Curriculum with Greek-speaking parents

Abstract

This study reports effectiveness data from a non-controlled clinical trial of a cultural adaptation of “Parenting The Strong Willed Child" Group Curriculum†( PSWC-GC) ( Forehand & Long, 2002) for Greek-speaking parents. PSWC-GC is a 6-week program that trains parents of young children with behavior difficulties in applying five parental skills: Attending, Rewarding, Ignoring, Instructions, and Timeout. The PSWC-GC was translated and culturally adapted for Greek parents while maintaining critical aspects for treatment fidelity. A community sample of 144 Greek speaking parents of children ages 2-8 years old (M=4,44 years, sd=1,74) participated in the study and completed a packet of questionnaires at baseline (T1) and upon completion of the intervention (T2). All measures had high Cronbach alphas. A paired sampled t-test showed that child defiant behaviors on the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory and Parental Distress on the Parenting Stress Index-SF decreased significantly at T2. Qualitative and quantitative data suggests high consumer satisfaction. Results ontribute to the ecological validity of the effectiveness of the PSWC-GC in a Greek sample and suggest that it can be an effective intervention for parental stress.