Parents' evaluation of 'understanding your child's behaviour', a parenting group based on the Solihull Approach

Understanding Your Child's Behaviour (UYCB) is a 10-week parenting programme based on the Solihull Approach model, which has previously been shown to reduce problematic behaviour in children. This study examined the views of 236 parents of all literacy levels who attended 37 UYCB programmes provided by the Solihull Borough's children's workforce between 2005 and 2010. Simple weekly evaluation forms were used to gather both quantitative and qualitative data. Ninety-five per cent of parents reported that they found the group relaxing, 89% found it very effective at helping them make changes to their parenting and 88% found it very helpful for understanding their children. Qualitative themes demonstrate that the group enables parents to implement the three cornerstone theories of the Solihull Approach: containment; reciprocity and (sensitive) behaviour management in their parenting. The study also supports the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines that parenting programmes should be eight to 12 session long.