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Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior (TPB) evaluates attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control toward a specific behavior as a way to predict intentions to perform a given behavior. Increase in intentions is said to increase the accuracy of predictions of the actual performance of that behavior. The theory has received considerable support and has been used to predict a wide array of behaviors. In the present study, the MyVirtualChild© program was used to examine positive parenting practices through the TPB constructs. Twenty-two participants completed the study and were randomly assigned to the experimental (n = 12) or control group (n = 10). Both groups completed preand post-test questionnaires, and their responses were compared to examine differences between the experimental and control group at post-test. Results indicated that there were no significant differences between preand post-test scores in the TPB variables (attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavior control and intentions) for both groups and there were no significant differences between the scores of the two groups on the post-test TPB variables. However, significant differences were found between the preand posttest scores on the Child Development Knowledge questionnaire, with the experimental group scoring higher than the control group. Regression analyses also revealed that child development knowledge was the most significant predictor of post-test intention scores. These findings might suggest that increased knowledge of child development may have an influence on intentions to engage in positive parenting behaviors and could be a target for parenting interventions. VIRTUAL CHILD-REARING 3 Virtual Child-Rearing: An Examination of Positive Parenting Practices through the Theory of Planned Behavior Numerous studies have demonstrated that people, especially children, learn by imitating others, particularly models that are deemed to be of higher authority and towards whom the learner has high respect. As such, parents are often models for their children. Not only do children imitate their parents’ behavior, but they often acquire and demonstrate this behavior in a way that shapes how they will act in future situations (Bandura, 1977). For example, McCullough, Harding, Shaffer, Han, and Bright (2014) found that mothers who displayed more anger, psychological control, unavailability and hostility toward their child during a conflict discussion task were more likely to report having experienced emotional abuse by their parents during childhood compared to mothers who demonstrated more warm and adaptive behaviors. In addition, children whose mothers encouraged them to take the perspective of others and who demonstrated more cognitive empathy in front of them had more developed empathy skills (Farrant, Devine, Maybery, & Fletcher, 2012). These findings highlight the impact that children’s experiences with their caregivers have on future parenting behaviors. Besides being a source of learning a wide array of behaviors, parenting behaviors can have a direct or indirect impact on children’s outcomes. Studies that have focused on distinguishing between positive and negative parenting practices are numerous, but when viewed in conjunction there are several behaviors that are consistently found to be associated with better child outcomes. Rowe, Zimmer-Gembeck, Rudolph, and Nesdale (2015), for instance, explained that positive parenting practices include those that create a supportive, warm and accepting environment, all of which can affect children’s future cognitive development starting as early as infancy. Furthermore, Landry, Smith, Swank, Assel, and Vellet, (2001) observed parent-child VIRTUAL CHILD-REARING 4 interactions and determined positive parenting practices as positive mannerisms and tone of voice when the child was an infant, and more use of praise and less criticism during the preschool years. The results indicated that, for optimal cognitive outcomes, consistent responsiveness and use of positive parenting practices starting in infancy and extending into the child’s preschool years is imperative. Additionally, for racial minority youth, parental monitoring, warmth and knowledge of their children’s activities were positively associated with adolescents’ intrinsic motivation in school and their school-related self-esteem, while they were negatively associated with having trouble in school (Lowe & Dotterer, 2013). Positive parenting is also characterized by appropriate forms of discipline and encouragement through the use of praise and rewards (Frazer & Fite, 2016) and setting limits in a way that is not perceived as coercive or hostile (Rowe et al., 2015). For example, in a threeyear longitudinal study focused on children’s transition from middle childhood to adolescence, inconsistent discipline at Time 1 predicted higher child externalizing behaviors at Time 3 of the study (Lengua, 2006). Similarly, Mendez and colleagues (2016) found that fathers’ use of corporal punishment when a child was 2 years old predicted an increase in externalizing behaviors when the child was 3 years old. Importantly, when mothers interacted with their child using positive behaviors (such as by being clear and responsive), the observed increase in externalizing behavior was diminished (Mendez, Durtschi, Neppl, & Stith, 2016). To continue, mothers who used inductive discipline (e.g. encouraging their child to take others’ perspective to understand the effect of their behavior on others) instilled in their children more empathy, which, consequently, led to more prosocial behavior displayed by the child. These results were in contrast to those found when mothers disciplined their children by using their status as authority figures and those who ignored or withdrew parental approval as a form of punishment (Krevans VIRTUAL CHILD-REARING 5 & Gibbs, 1996). Moreover, recollections of inconsistent discipline and decreased monitoring were associated with higher levels of traits related to psychopathy in male juvenile offenders (Molinuevo, Pardo, González, & Torrubia, 2014). Providing support and a protective environment can also protect against future negative experiences. For example, researchers found a positive correlation between parent-child conflict and bullying or victimization at school, and a negative correlation between child self-disclosure and bullying or victimization at school. That is, children who felt more at ease to talk to their parents about their days and who were less likely to keep secrets from them were less likely to be the victims or perpetrators of bullying (Georgiou & Stavrinides, 2013). Parenting practices that facilitated positive interactions between parent and child were positively associated with child prosocial behavior towards others, specifically family members and friends (Padilla-Walker, Nielson, & Day, 2016), while higher parental care appeared to decrease the probability of a mood disorder diagnosis later in life across individuals from five European countries (Heider, Matschinger, Bernert, Alonso, & Angermeyer, 2006). Parental monitoring and effective discipline were also found to be protective against drug use in adolescence (Macaulay, Griffin, Gronewold, Williams, & Botvin, 2005). Negative parenting practices, on the other hand, include overt or covert dismissal and criticism and disapproval without sufficient support or guidance of children’s behavior, characterized as ‘rejecting’ parenting (Rowe et al., 2015) or parenting through the use of psychological control. Using guilt, threatening love withdrawal, and being over-protective and possessive (Frazer & Fite, 2016) have also been associated with negative child outcomes. For example, in the longitudinal study by Rowe et al. (2015), children whose parents used more rejecting and negative parenting practices presented with more anxiety and rejection sensitivity VIRTUAL CHILD-REARING 6 compared to children whose parents used more positive practices. Additionally, in the three-year longitudinal study by Lengua (2006), parenting behaviors related to rejection at Time 1 predicted higher irritability and fear at Time 3. Additionally, recollection of higher levels of parental care was associated with higher ratings of wellbeing at ages 36, 43 and 60-64 while those of high parental psychological control were associated with poorer wellbeing ratings (Stafford, Kuh, Gale, Mishra, & Richards, 2016). Parental hostility has also been found to be negatively associated with children’s prosocial behavior (Padilla-Walker et al., 2016). It should be noted, however, that the relationship between parenting behaviors and child outcomes is more likely to be bidirectional. A number of researchers, for instance, point to temperament as possibly influencing parenting behaviors that subsequently influence child outcomes; for example, children with increased irritability may be more likely to have parents who use inconsistent discipline, which then predicts increased externalizing symptoms while children transition into adolescence, suggesting a “transactional relation” between child variables and parenting behaviors (Lengua, 2006). Parenting Interventions In the past, interventions targeting child problematic behavior focused solely on changing the child’s behavior. Understanding of the influence of parenting practices on children’s behavior has highlighted the limits of child-focused interventions on evoking behavior change and researchers have therefore turned attention to the parent-child relationship and how interventions can target specific parenting behaviors that can then influence change in child behavior. At present, there are numerous parenting interventions used across different communities that have centered on parents’ behavior and its effects on child outcomes. These have ranged from including parent-child dyads wherein both parent and child measures are VIRTUAL CHILD-REA