Parenting-Focused Infotainment Helps Real-Life Families

Reality shows where seasoned professionals help clueless parents learn to discipline and care for their unruly offspring may be more than just fluff entertainment. Watching programs promoting good parenting skills and children's behavioral problems can actually have real-life effects on parent-child relationships according to the results of an Australian experiment involving 465 parents.

Those who watched an six-week television series following five families trying to change their children's behavior with the help of a positive parenting program reported increased parenting confidence and fewer child behavioral problems at twelve weeks and six months after beginning the series. Another group of parents who received a parenting workbook and weekly emailings in addition to the program further reported less parental anger and fewer disagreements about parenting strategies and discipline.

Read more: TV can improve parenting

On the Web: Great Parenting Experiment