Developing the Incredible Years Webster-Stratton Parenting Skills Training Programme for Use with Adoptive Families

Kay Henderson and Norma Sargent report on the development of an adoption-specific parenting skills programme which took as its starting point the widely used Incredible Years package by Carolyn Webster-Stratton. Four courses of the BASIC Incredible Years programme were run at Coram Family for adoptive parents. During these sessions notes were taken of adoption-related material which arose in discussion and during individual interviews with participants. Additional material for trainers and parents was developed by staff from Coram Adoption Service and the Anna Freud Centre. The courses were also evaluated and parents reported feeling significantly less stressed and more competent after the training, found their children more pleasurable and reported significant reduction in the children's levels of hyper-activity, conduct disorder and behavioural difficulties. The value of combining proven behavioural management strategies with consideration of the specific challenges facing adoptive parents is highlighted.