Background: COPING parent (Confident Parent Internet
Guide) is an online universal parenting programme designed for
parents of children aged 3-8 who are interested in learning positive
parenting strategies to address everyday parenting challenges.
Most people now have access to the internet and many parents
seek online parenting advice, so it is important to ensure that
advice is both evidence-based and freely available. The 10-week
online COPING parent programme presents information and
activities based on core social learning theory principles. The programme
provides information and video examples of parenting
skills, uses quizzes to test knowledge and suggests home practice
activities. This study was undertaken to obtain feedback on the
usefulness and acceptability of the programme to inform its further
development.
Design and Methods: The programme was created using the
LifeGuide software and participants (n=20) were asked to complete
one chapter of the programme each week and provide feedback.
This feasibility study was undertaken to highlight any technical
issues and suggest modifications prior to a more rigorous
evaluation.
Results: Both participant feedback and programme usage data
are reported. Thirteen feedback forms were returned and programme
usage data was downloaded for all participants. Feedback
suggested modifications that included adaptations to enable the
programme to be accessed by tablet users, an option to look back
over previously completed chapters, the inclusion of more video
examples of positive parenting