Development of prosocial behaviour in children after the improvement of family competences
| Pages | 161-172 |
| Published date | 15 June 2015 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JCS-02-2014-0013 |
| Date | 15 June 2015 |
| Author | Carmen Orte,Lluís Ballester,Martí X. March,Josep L. Oliver,Belén Pascual,Maria Antònia Gomila |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Vulnerable groups,Children's services |
Development of prosocial behaviour in
children after the improvement of family
competences
Carmen Orte, Lluís Ballester, Martí X. March, Josep L. Oliver, Belén Pascual and
Maria Antònia Gomila
Dr Carmen Orte is Chair
Professor at the Department of
Education and Didactics,
University of the Balearic
Islands, Palma, Spain.
Dr Lluís Ballester is Professor at
the Department of Education
and Didactics, University of the
Balearic Islands, Palma, Spain.
Dr Martí X. March is Chair
Professor at the Department of
Education and Didactics,
University of the Balearic
Islands, Palma, Spain.
Dr Josep L. Oliver is Professor
at the Department of Education
and Didactics, University of the
Balearic Islands, Plama, Spain.
Dr Belén Pascual and Dr Maria
Antònia Gomila are both
Lecturers at the Department of
Education and Didactics,
University of the Balearic
Islands, Palma, Spain.
Abstract
Purpose –This research assesses the predictive capacity of key factors in the development of family
competences: parent-children relationship, family involvement, family resilience and positive parenting. It also
aims to establish which are the most discriminating factors between the groups showing the most and the
least prosocial behaviours.
Design/methodology/approach –The study involves a longitudinal study of one child from 181 families;
155 families in the experimental group and 26 in the control group. Both boys and girls are included and their
ages range from 8 to 14 years. The instruments employed are all validated for use with a Spanish population
and include Karol Kumpfer’s questionnaires on family competence and the BASC questionnaire.
Findings –All of the factors analysed, with the exception of family involvement, proved to be predictive for
prosocial behaviour, and the most discriminating among these were: parent-children relationship, family
resilience and positive parenting.
Originality/value –One key issue in family prevention programmes is the development of prosocial
behaviour. In this sense, the research developed here aims at highlighting protective factors as key to
developing a prosocial behaviour.
Keywords Resilience, Family strengthening, Positive parenting, Prosocial behaviour
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The present research is embedded in a broader project that seeks answers to a series of
questions about the affective, cognitive and situational predictors of children’s prosocial
behaviour, the measuring techniques and the possibilities for socio-educational intervention
(Calvo et al., 2001). Previous studies have focused on the conceptual definitions of the normative
and prosocial behaviour and on assessments of the predictive capacity of some of the factors
intrinsic to a Family Competence Programme.
The Family Competence Programme (Programa de Competencia Familiar, PCF) is the
adaptation of the Strengthening Families Programme (SFP) (Kumpfer and DeMarsh, 1985;
Kumpfer et al., 1989) for the Spanish population, developed by the research group GIFES at the
University of the Balearic Islands. It is a prevention programme focusing on risk factors and
adopts a selective multi-component approach. Its original design was developed in order to
reduce the influence of family risk factors on the children of drug-abusers and increase the
protective factors, aiming to increase their resilience when faced with substance abuse and other
Received 28 February 2014
Revised 11 July 2014
21 May 2015
12 June 2015
Accepted 14 July 2015
DOI 10.1108/JCS-02-2014-0013 VOL. 10 NO. 2 2015, pp. 161-172, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1746-6660
j
JOURNAL OF CHILDREN'S SERVICES
j
PAG E 16 1
To continue reading
Request your trial