Relationships Between Parental Self-Efficacy, Parent Training Instructional Practices, and Models of Parent-Professional Interaction
University of British Columbia, Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, and Special Education
Parental self-efficacy impacts the manner in which a parent interacts with his or her child, as well as child development. Parental self-efficacy can be influenced by a variety of parent and child characteristics, in addition to contextual factors such as socioeconomic status. Parents of children with autism are at risk for lower self-efficacy due to a number of additional influences, including stress, autism severity, and how professional supports are provided. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between maternal self-efficacy in mothers of children with autism and parent-professional relationships, the instructional techniques utilized in parent training, parenting stress, socioeconomic status, and parents’ perceptions of child progress. A sample of 43 mothers in British Columbia whose children with autism were receiving services from a behaviour consultant completed The Early Intervention Parent Questionnaire (EIPQ) that was developed for this study. The EIPQ measures maternal self-efficacy and the variables believed to influence maternal self-efficacy. A regression analysis found that parenting stress and parents’ perceptions of child progress were related approximately equally to maternal self efficacy. Implications are discussed, with suggestions for future research.
https://circle.ubc.ca/handle/2429/41968