These trends have alarmed the public and challenged the juvenile justice system.
Parents can play powerful, proactive roles in guiding child development.
Studies have shown that parents can be taught to use consistent and skillful parenting practices, which are key to proactive family management. Effective parent training has been shown to help parents avoid specific parenting practices that increase the risk for adolescent problem behaviors and to increase practices that are likely to enhance family communication and bonding. The flexible PDFY curriculum, which is designed for universal application and has been used and adapted with a broad range of families of various socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, targets parents of children in grades four through seven. It is designed to effectively reach adult learners regardless of learning style or level of education. This Bulletin provides an overview of the PDFY parenting program and summarizes results of studies of the program.