The impact of feedback on parents' reports of self-efficacy and observed skills acquisition

Parenting self-efficacy refers to parents' perceptions of their ability to act in ways that positively impact their children. Research has demonstrated a significant association between parents' efficacious beliefs and various parenting behaviors and child outcomes. Despite the wide array of studies, most have used correlational designs, and as a result, causal understanding of the influence of self-efficacy on parenting and factors that influence efficacious beliefs are lacking. One theorized source of self-efficacy, and a common component of parent training programs, is verbal persuasion or feedback from others. However, no research exists regarding the relationships among feedback, parenting self-efficacy, and parent behavior. The purpose of this study was to implement an experimental design to assess the impact of feedback on parents' self-efficacy and skills acquisition. It was hypothesized that feedback would enhance parenting self-efficacy and parents' acquisitions of skills. Sixty-three community mothers with children between the ages of two and seven were randomly assigned to one of two groups: Immediate Feedback and No Feedback. During the first session, mother-child dyads engaged in a 25-minute play interaction. Next, mothers completed measures assessing general and narrow parenting self-efficacy, parenting behaviors and psychopathology, and child psychopathology. Lastly, mother-child dyads participated in a 15-minute play interaction during which parents in the Immediate Feedback group were provided feedback about their parenting skills. Parents in the No Feedback group did not receive feedback during the second play interaction. All families returned to the clinic approximately one week later and completed the 15-minute play interaction (with the Feedback group receiving feedback), the self-efficacy measures, and the 25-minute play interaction. Results of the repeated measures MANOVA indicated that feedback enhanced positive parenting skills but did not significantly impact parents' reported general and narrow self-efficacies. This was the first study to document the direct impact of immediate feedback on parents' acquisition of positive parenting skills. Further studies are needed to examine the influence of feedback on parenting in order to provide information that parent training programs could use to enhance parents' engagement in positive parenting styles.