| Description |
The focus of this present study has been on self concept change. Psychosocial nursing theory has adopted theory from self concept theorists. However, psychosocial nursing interventions in effecting change in self concept have not been investigated. Psychosocial nurses are often in a position to influence change in parents' self concept, i.e., parent counseling, group therapy, etc. One avenue of influencing parental self concept is through a Parent Education Program. Research was conducted in an effort to measure change in the self concept of parents due to a parent education program. The results of this study can assist the psychosocial nurse and other health professionals to evaluate parental self esteem and, also suggest a preventative or restorative measures for increasing self concept. Since there is little research regarding the change of self concept in adults, this researcher chose to study parents with problem children, and. change in parental self concept measured by the Tennessee Self Concept Scale. This researcher decided to study parents with problem children because the quality of the parent -child relationship is often strained. A Parent Education Program's main goal is to instruct parents in parenting skills. Improved parenting skills should help change parents' perceptions of their parenting, and change the quality of the parent-child relationship. Two types of Parent Education Programs were initiated to measure the outcome on self concept. Parents were assigned to two groups. Group 1 received parent education lectures from one psychosocial nurse leader plus an interpersonal parenting group. Group 2 received parent education lectures from several different leaders but no planned interpersonal parenting group. The null hypotheses under investigation were: 1) there will be no significant difference (.05) between he measure of parental subject's self concept before and after an eight week Parent Education Program; and 2) there will be no significant difference between Group 1 subjects and Group 2 subjects before and after an eight week Parent Education Program. The sample consisted of 28 parents, 17 in Group 1 and 11 in Group 2. The variables studied were derived from the Tennessee Self Concept Scale. T-tests were used to evaluate the variables pre- and post-test. Means and 1-tailed probability were computed for each group and for the combined groups. For the combined groups a significant increase was found in the total self concept score at .03. There were also significant increases in several of the subscale variables. The findings suggest that Parent Education Programs can have an impact on the way in which parents perceive themselves. When evaluated individually Group 2 showed a significant increase in one subscale variable, that of acts" at .03. This suggests that the parent education lectures revealed skills necessary for parenting acts. However, in Group 1 four of the subscale variables were significant. It is assumed that Group 1 which had the single psychosocial nurse leader and included the interpersonal parenting group, contributed to the results of an increase in the self concept of parents. It was demonstrated by this researcher that a. parenting program which includes a single nurse leader and an interpersonal parenting group can be instrumental in increasing parents' feelings of self worth and esteem. A positive change in self concept facilitates change in behavior. The change in parental behavior and an increase in parental self concept will challenge former patterns in the family and strengthen the parent-child relationship. Psychosocial nurses can be instrumental in this process with an understanding of the effects of a parent education program, upon the self concept of parents. |
