The International Parenting Survey-Canada: Exploring access to parenting services

oai:islandscholar.ca:ir_10665This article presents results of a survey investigating parents' needs for parenting services, their access to and preferences for parenting programs. Canadian parents (N = 2,340) completed the International Parenting Survey (Morawska, Heinrichs, & Sanders, 2011) with respect to the youngest of their children who was in the 2-12 year age range. In this community sample, over a quarter of parents reported that they had consulted a professional about their child's behavior in the last year. Fifteen percent of parents had participated in some form of parenting program, although only a quarter of these programs were evidence-based. Parents' top-reported barriers to participating in a parenting program were lack of awareness and felt need, followed by practical barriers such as lack of time and access to child care. Parents expressed interest in a diverse array of delivery modes for parenting programs. Implications for enhancing access to parenting programs are discussed