Introduction and Method

The Confident Parent Course is a program that introduces differentiation-based parenting—an approach developed through Dr Jenny Brown’s family application of Bowen Family Systems Theory. Compared to other parenting programs, The Confident Parent Course is not based on teaching a particular parenting technique. Instead, it encourages parents to reflect on their own role in parenting and how that can impact their children.

This report presents some findings on The Confident Parent Course based on a survey of 57 parents conducted in 2025. The survey was offered in various schools and community settings in Australia. Parents were given an opportunity to participate by filling out a survey after the course. Parents who attended at least three out of four sessions of the course were included in this analysis.

Knowledge and Confidence¹

A majority of parents (95%) reported feeling more knowledgeable about parenting concepts taught in the course. Similarly, a majority of parents (88-89%) reported greater levels of confidence and sense of efficacy in parenting after the course. Knowledge and confidence in parenting have been associated with persistence in parenting behaviors and positive health outcomes in both parents and children.²

Figure 1. Percentage of parents reporting increased knowledge and confidence

Stress, Worry, Applicability and Recommendability

When asked about stress and worry, 82% of parents reported feeling reduced stress and 74% reported feeling less worried after the course. Previous research indicates that decreased stress and worry are associated with positive parenting outcomes. Finally, in relation to course applicability and willingness to recommend the course, 95% reported finding the course applicable to their parenting and 93% answered that they would recommend the course to others. 

These encouraging results provide preliminary empirical evidence for the efficacy of The Confident Parent Course and of its usability as a practical parenting course. 

Figure 2. Percentage of parents reporting less worry and reduced stress

Figure 3. Percentage of parents who find the course applicable and recommendable

1. Responses were coded as: 1 strongly disagree, 2 disagree, 3 neither agree nor disagree, 4 agree, 5 strongly agree. t-tests were carried out for each question/statistic by testing its mean against a score of 3 (The score of 3 reflects the null hypothesis). All t-tests were significant at a p<0.001 ↩︎
2. Albanese, Ariana M., Gabrielle R. Russo, and Pamela A. Geller. “The role of parental self‐efficacy in parent and child well‐being: A systematic review of associated outcomes.” Child: care, health and development 45, no. 3 (2019): 333-363; Vance, Ashlee J., and Debra H. Brandon. “Delineating among parenting confidence, parenting self-efficacy, and competence.” Advances in nursing science 40, no. 4 (2017): E18-E37. ↩︎