A PARENTING CURRICULUM FOR PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS OF YOUNG CHILDREN WITH A FOCUS ON ATTACHMENT THEORY

Author

Alexandria DriscollFollow

Date of Award

6-2020

Document Type

Project

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Child Development

Department

Psychology

First Reader/Committee Chair

van Schagen, Amy

Abstract

Attachment science has shown the importance of a purposeful and secure parent-child relationship. A secure attachment relationship includes sensitivity, responsiveness, and warmth. However, these behaviors may not come naturally to some parents due to lack of knowledge, stress, mental health issues, and/or past relationships. The purpose of this project was to inform parents about attachment science, increase parents’ confidence, and reduce parental stress by providing four two-hour workshop sessions. This project specifically targeted parents of young children. During the implementation of the project, the platform of the sessions changed from face-to-face to online due to the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent guidelines restricting gatherings. The sessions were presented on the Zoom video conferencing application. The information collected from pre- and post- training assessments showed that the participants increased their knowledge of attachment science and increased their confidence levels in their parenting abilities. However, the findings also indicated that the participants’ reported higher levels of stress after completing the workshops sessions. Future trainings should include more discussion as this was somewhat limited and difficult on the online platform. Also, future trainings could be less broad and focus on more specific topics within attachment science.

Recommended Citation

Driscoll, Alexandria, "A PARENTING CURRICULUM FOR PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS OF YOUNG CHILDREN WITH A FOCUS ON ATTACHMENT THEORY" (2020). Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations. 1078.
https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/1078