Although almost 20 years passed since the Recommendations Rec(2006)19 on policy to support positive parenting (PP) were published by the Council of Europe, family psychologists and parent educators still have some work to do. In early 2010 in Lithuania, only a rather small group of parents knew about a PP program, which was mainly unavailable due to its economic and logistical reasons. In the year 2025, we count at least 6 systematic PP programs for parents with neurotypical 1-to-17-year-old children.

For many parents, raising children is a challenging, though significant, task. Even with parenting programs implemented in Lithuania, parents still need (1) knowledge in developmental psychology and the newest research studies, (2) guidelines to direct themselves through dozens of parenting books and webinars, and (3) encouragement, and support from other parents. Also, they feel pressure from society to take maximum care of their children and sometimes even sacrifice their personal life. Research studies confirm that parents feel stressed and emotionally tensed (e. g. Calvano et al., 2024), struggle with the balance between family and professional life (e. g. Coric, 2014); experience parental burnout (e. g. Mikolajczak et al., 2023).

PP programs in particular aim to meet the parental psychological needs and provide them with the sufficient support in bringing up their children.

In this presentation, the development and implementation of the PP programs STEP (authors: Dinkmeyer, McKay, and Dinkmeyer) in Lithuania will be reviewed. During the period of 15 years, some significant adjustments and modifications were completed to support the Lithuanian parents, teachers, and expectant parents. However, future guidelines need to be discussed to strengthen the parents who have limited cognitive capabilities, are immigrants, have children with special needs, etc. The insights from the STEP program participants about their actual needs will be added as an illustration for this presentation.

Parents play a significant role in children's bullying involvement. As a way of engaging in bullying prevention, parents can choose certain strategies and give their children advice on how to address a situation as a bullying perpetrator or a victim. However, consistent knowledge about parents' preferred strategies when talking about bullying involvement is lacking. Moreover, little is known whether mothers and fathers differ in the kind of advice about bullying involvement they give to their children. This study aims to fill these gaps by examining what kind of advice parents give to their children regarding their involvement in bullying and whether mothers and fathers choose different approaches. We used data from the CHALLENGE project (N=3,798), which targeted parents of children attending Finnish primary schools. Parents were asked how likely they were to choose 19 specific strategies if their child was involved in bullying as a victim or a perpetrator. In the case of victimisation, parents prefer to advise their child to tell their teacher (M=4.80, SD=0.55) or promise their child they would think together about a solution (M=4.81, SD =0.50). Regarding bullying, parents prefer to say that their child needs to stop bullying immediately (M=4.92, SD=0.39) or try to explain that bullying can hurt (M=4.89, SD=0.43). Linear regression models showed that mothers scored higher in the majority of items. In contrast, fathers are more likely to choose not to say much, because bullying for both victims and bullies is a part of growing up, and advise their children to ignore bullies or to get back at them. Findings can help develop effective strategies that take into account differences between mothers and fathers.

Research consistently highlights the significant potential of organized after-school activities, such as sports, for positive youth development. However, a closer examination of the literature from the past decade reveals troubling inequalities in the participation rates of immigrant youth compared to native youth across Europe and North America. Parents are recognized as one of the primary influences on young people’s involvement in organized sports, particularly affecting the quality of their experiences and the likelihood of continued participation. Despite this, the existing literature primarily focuses on native families, with limited attention given to immigrant households. This lack of understanding hinders the efforts of researchers and practitioners to promote participation in organized activities, such as sports, among immigrant families. To address this knowledge gap, the primary objective of this study is to gain a comprehensive understanding of immigrant parents’ perspectives and experiences regarding their children’s involvement in after-school organized sports activities in Sweden. Additionally, it aims to identify the barriers and facilitators that may affect parents’ attempts to socialize and engage in their children’s sports activities. Using a qualitative design, we conducted interviews with eighteen first-generation immigrant parents who were born outside the Nordic countries and have children between the ages of 6 and 16. We extracted typical stories or scenarios from multiple individual cases through composite sequence analysis. Our findings indicate that three distinct collective networks (profiles) were identified. These profiles differed in terms of their age once arriving in Sweden, their past experiences with structured sports activities, or their experiences with sports in general. The profiles, in turn, offer an in-depth understanding of potential barriers and facilitators connected to the progression of immigrant parents into the sports context and related experiences. The implications of the findings for future research and the work of practitioners will be discussed in greater detail.

Studies have examined the relationship between parental styles and well-being in childhood and adolescence (Baumrind, 1971; Maccoby & Martin, 1983). What is less known is the way in which parenting styles continue to relate with positive outcomes in emerging adulthood (Milevsky, 2016). Furthermore, research is limited on cross cultural comparison in parenting styles in general, and its link with positive well-being outcomes in particular. Consequently, the current study assessed how the link between parenting styles and outcomes vary in emerging adults as a function of collectivistic/individualistic societal features.
Participants in the study included 171 students from a US university in the Northeastern US (N = 84) and from a university in a large city in Israel (N = 87). Parenting styles were assessed using the Parental Authority Questionnaire (Buri, 1991). Self-esteem was assessed with the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (1965).
In a three-stage hierarchical multiple regression, introduction of the interaction effects of nationality and parenting styles explained an additional 7.6% of variation in Self-Esteem, and this change in R² was significant. Simple slopes analysis using Process macro show a significant negative effect of permissive parenting style on self-esteem among Israelis, b = -.40, SE = .15, p = .008, but no significant effect among Americans, b = .03, SE = .16, p = .188. In addition, significant negative effect of authoritarian parenting style on self-esteem among Israelis, b = -.47, SE = .13, p < .001, but no significant effect among Americans, b = .15, SE = .12, p = .217.
The current study highlights the continued connection between parenting practices and well-being in emerging adulthood and the significance of family assessment and intervention that is sensitive to the differing influence of parenting on individuals from individualistic versus collectivistic societies.

It is estimated that 6% of pregnant women use one or more addictive substances. In Finland, it is estimated that 8.7 % of children live in families with substance misuse. Maternal substance[ use disorder (SUD) during pregnancy poses risks for adverse pregnancy outcomes and pregnancy complications. Notably, the quality of the caregiving relationship between parents with SUD and their children is significantly impacted by a range of chronic and interconnected issues. Previous studies indicate that infants of mothers with SUD exhibit problematic interaction patterns, such as altered reactivity to infants’ affective cues, maternal insensitivity, hostility, intrusiveness, poorer affective quality, less mutuality and lack of structuring.

Individual differences in Sensory Processing (SP)—how we perceive and react to sensory stimuli—play a crucial role in shaping behaviour and emotional regulation. For parents, aligning their emotions and actions with their infant’s needs is essential. However, little is known about how SP impacts early parenting skills, especially among parents with substance use disorder (SUD), who often face additional challenges such as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), depressive symptoms, and emotion regulation difficulties. These factors may compound parenting risks, making it vital to understand their interconnections. Prenatal exposure to alcohol and drugs can further impair a child’s SP, adding another layer of complexity. Furthermore, parental SP issues may influence the success of interventions designed to support families affected by SUD.

This study aims to investigate the links between SP, ACEs, emotion regulation, and depressive symptoms among parents with SUD. Part of a broader project at the University of Helsinki, the research involved 66 mothers, 23 fathers, and 72 children from the national Holding Tight® treatment network.