Decades of research have demonstrated that the parent-child dyad and the environment of the familyâ€"which includes all primary caregiversâ€"are at the foundation of children's well- being and healthy development. From birth, children are learning and rely on parents and the other caregivers in their lives to protect and care for them. The impact of parents may never be greater than during the earliest years of life, when a child's brain is rapidly developing and when nearly all of her or his experiences are created and shaped by parents and the family environment. Parents help children build and refine their knowledge and skills, charting a trajectory for their health and well-being during childhood and beyond. The experience of parenting also impacts parents themselves. For instance, parenting can enrich and give focus to parents' lives; generate stress or calm; and create any number of emotions, including feelings of happiness, sadness, fulfillment, and anger. Parenting of young children today takes place in the context of significant ongoing developments. These include: a rapidly growing body of science on early childhood, increases in funding for programs and services for families, changing demographics of the U.S. population, and greater diversity of family structure. Additionally, parenting is increasingly being shaped by technology and increased access to information about parenting. Parenting Matters identifies parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with positive developmental outcomes in children ages 0-8; universal/preventive and targeted strategies used in a variety of settings that have been effective with parents of young children and that support the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices; and barriers to and facilitators for parents' use of practices that lead to healthy child outcomes as well as their participation in effective programs and services. This report makes recommendations directed at an array of stakeholders, for promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective programs and services for parents and on areas that warrant further research to inform policy and practice. It is meant to serve as a roadmap for the future of parenting policy, research, and practice in the United States.

"This is a must-read for every family that yearns to create peace and harmony.” --Shefali Tsabary, Ph.D., New York Times bestselling author of The Conscious Parent Tired of yelling and nagging? True family connection is possible--and this essential guide shows us how. Popular parenting blogger Rebecca Eanes believes that parenting advice should be about more than just getting kids to behave. Struggling to maintain a meaningful connection with her two little ones and frustrated by the lack of emotionally aware books for parents, she began to share her own insights with readers online. Her following has grown into a thriving community--hundreds of thousands strong. In this eagerly anticipated guide, Eanes shares her hard-won wisdom for overcoming limiting thought patterns and recognizing emotional triggers, as well as advice for connecting with kids at each stage, from infancy to adolescence. This heartfelt, insightful advice comes not from an "expert," but from a learning, evolving parent. Filled with practical, solution-oriented advice, this is an empowering guide for any parent who longs to end the yelling, power struggles, and downward spiral of acting out, punishment, resentment, and shame--and instead foster an emotional connection that helps kids learn self-discipline, feel confident, and create lasting, loving bonds.

One of the most distinguished psychologists in the country distills decades of research into a parenting book that offers the key to raising a happy, healthy child.

Do you wish there was a way to raise well-behaved children without punishment? Are you afraid the only alternative is being overly indulgent? With Positive Discipline, an encouragement model based on both kindness and firmness, you don’t have to choose between these two extremes. Using these 49 Positive Discipline tools, honed and perfected after years of real-world research and feedback, you’ll be able to work with your children instead of against them. The goal isn’t perfection but providing you with the techniques you need to help your children develop the life and social skills you hope for them, such as respect for self and others, problem-solving ability, and self-regulation. The tenets of Positive Discipline consistently foster mutual respect so that any child—from a three-year-old toddler to a rebellious teenager—can learn creative cooperation and self-discipline without losing his or her dignity. In this new parenting guidebook, you’ll find day-to-day exercises for parents to improve their parenting skills, along with success stories from parents worldwide who have benefited from the Positive Discipline philosophy. With training tools and personal examples from the authors, you will learn: · The “hidden belief” behind a child’s misbehavior, and how to respond accordingly · The best way to focus on solutions instead of dwelling on the negative · How to encourage your child without pampering or praising · How to teach your child to make mistakes and follow through on agreements · How to foster creative thinking

Safe, nurturing, and positive parent-child interactions lay the foundations for healthy child development. How children are raised in their early years and beyond affects many different aspects of their lives, including brain development, language, social skills, emotional regulation, mental and physical health, health risk behavior, and the capacity to cope with a spectrum of major life events. As such, parenting is the most important potentially modifiable target of preventive intervention. The Power of Positive Parenting provides an in-depth description of "Triple P," one of the most extensively studied parenting programs in the world, backed by more than 30 years of ongoing research. Triple P has its origins in social learning theory and the principles of behavior, cognitive, and affective change, and its aim is to prevent severe behavioral, emotional, and developmental problems in children and adolescents by enhancing the knowledge, skills, and confidence of parents. Triple P incorporates five levels of intervention on a tiered continuum of increasing strength for parents of children from birth to age 16. The programs comprising the Triple P system are designed to create a family-friendly environment that better supports parents, with a range of programs tailored to their differing needs. This volume draws on the editors' experience of developing Triple P, and chapters address every aspect of the system, as well as how it can be applied to a diverse range of child and parent problems in different age groups and cultural contexts.

Features a step-by-step method for parents that experience problems with their children; discusses seven myths of parenting; and offers advice for solving common issues with children in different age groups, from toddlers to adolescents.

Draws on the author's Positive Parenting Solutions online course to explain how to correct negative behaviors in children, introducing the psychological theories of Alfred Adler on using empowerment to promote healthy child development.