Providing for personal meaning in parent education programs

Improvements in transfer and retention of skills learned in parent education programs were hypothesized to occur if the learning process provided for the "discovery of personal meaning" (Combs, 1982). Twenty-eight mothers and fathers were randomly assigned to programs emphasizing either a personal meaning approach or a traditional approach. Communication skills were assessed from videotaped encounters with parents' own children at home at three times: pretest, posttest, and 6-week follow-up. Attitudinal measures were also administered. Parents in the personal meaning approach demonstrated more effective learning and retention. Few changes in attitude or self-concept occurred.