Parenting Adolescents
A Regional Study on Parenting Adolescents and Parenting Support Programmes in Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro and Romania i PARENTING ADOLESCENTS A Regional Study on Parenting Adolescents and Parenting Support Programmes in Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro and Romania PARENTING ADOLESCENTS A Regional Study on Parenting Adolescents and Parenting Support Programmes in Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro and RomaniaPARENTING ADOLESCENTS ii 2018 United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) Front Cover: UNICEF/Romania/Sandovici Design and Layout: Benussi & the Fish The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the authors and of a multiplicity of actors in the six study countries and do not necessarily reflect the views of UNICEF. The publication can be freely cited. To request permission and for any other information on the publication, please contact: UNICEF Europe and Central Asia Regional Office, 5-7 Avenue de la Paix, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland. Telephone: +41 22 909 5111 ecaro@unicef.org For readers who would like to cite this document we sug-gest the following form: UNICEF (2018). Regional Study on Parenting Adolescents and Parenting Support Pro-grammes in Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Monte-negro and Romania. Geneva: UNICEF, 2018. A Regional Study on Parenting Adolescents and Parenting Support Programmes in Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro and Romania iii PARENTING ADOLESCENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The regional study Parenting Adolescents was commis-sioned by the UNICEF Europe and Central Asia Region-al Office (ECARO). It is the result of collaboration among many individuals working on issues of adolescent devel-opment and participation. Appreciation is extended to each and all of them. The study report was written by Kirsten Pontalti, Leilani Elliott and Zosa De Sas Kropiwnicki Gruber with significant contributions from Sara Lim Bertrand (Proteknn Consult-ing Group) and Ilaria Favero (UNICEF ECARO). The study also benefitted from editing by Kristen Castrataro, Layal Sarrouh and Christine Williams. Ilaria Favero coordinated and provided overall technical guidance to the development of this research project. Special thanks go to UNICEF colleagues in Belarus, Bul-garia, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro and Romania for the coordination of the six national research teams and for providing inputs throughout the drafting process: Vic-toria Lozuyk, Uladzimir Valetka and Elena Artsiomenka (Belarus); Vera Rangelova (Bulgaria); Alex Petrov (Moldo-va); Ivana Cekovic, Marija Novkovic and Maja Kovacevic (Montenegro); Nana Pruidze and Tamar Ugulava (Georgia); Eugenia Apolzan, Luminita Costache, Cristina Badea and Gabriel Vockel (Romania). Since the study used a multi-sectoral angle to look at the issue of parenting adolescents, special thanks go to col-leagues from different programmatic areas at UNICEF ECARO, who supported the study conceptually and pro-vided peer review throughout the drafting process: Nina Ferencic, Lori Bell, Sheena Bell, Joanne Bosworth, Louisa Lippi, Mario Mosquera, Maha Muna, Sergiu Tomsa and Diana Vakarelska. Marie-Christine Belgharbi provided ad-ministrative support. Our gratitude is extended to other UNICEF colleagues. Fabio Friscia (UNICEF HQ, ADAP Section) provided invalu-able inputs. Sandie Blanchet (UNICEF Brussels Office) and Jasmina Byrne (UNICEF HQ, Data, Research and Policy) provided support in the research design phase. Independent experts who contributed generously of their time in reviewing the draft document include experts from the Belarus Institute of Philosophy and Stefan Cojocaru (HoltIs Association, Romania). The study would not have been possible without the data collection work performed by six national research teams: Natalia Kutuzova (Institute of Philosophy, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus), Mikhail Zavadskiy and Timofey Lanyn (Belarus); Iordan Iossifov, David Kiuranov, Nikolay Mihaylov, Nevena Germanova, Sofiya Biserinska and Evelina Lafchiyska (Child and Space Association and Association Roditeli, Bulgaria); Ani Chkhikvishvili, Sophio Omanadze, Kristine Lortkipanidze and Mariam Topuria (Georgia); Natalia Vladicescu and Vasile Cantarji (CBS-Axa, Moldova); Sladjana Petkovic, Tamara Milic, Branka Colevic and Milos Burzan (Montenegro); and Fidelie Kalambay, Nicoleta Manescu, Alexandra Ciocanel and Ana Maria Niculescu (Romania). Last but not least, our sincere thanks go to every adoles-cent, parent, caregiver, policy maker, service provider and adult participant in the six study countries who generously shared their views, opinions and voices, thus contributing to the richness of the findings. It is our hope that these voices will be heard and will inform the design of effective parenting support initiatives for parents and caregivers of adolescents in the ECA Region. A Regional Study on Parenting Adolescents and Parenting Support Programmes in Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro and RomaniaPARENTING ADOLESCENTS iv ContentAcknowledgements ......................................................................................................................................................... iii CONTENT ......................................................................................................................................................................IV Tables, Figures and Boxes ...............................................................................................................................................vi Acronyms ....................................................................................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER 1: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Main Findings ............................................................................................................................................................. 2 1.2 The way forward ......................................................................................................................................................... 4 CHAPTER 2: BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................................................... 7 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................... 7 2.2 Research objectives and methodology ...................................................................................................................... 8 Table 1: Sample Description ...........................................................................................................................................10 2.3 Conceptual framework and key definitions ...............................................................................................................12 CHAPTER 3: PARENTING ADOLESCENTS IN THE ECA REGION: A LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................... 17 3.1 Parenting adolescent boys and girls, including the most vulnerable ........................................................................17 3.2 How macro-level changes are impacting parenting ................................................................................................. 20 CHAPTER 4: PARENTING ADOLESCENTS IN THE ECA REGION: THE LEGISLATIVE AND POLICY FRAMEWORK .................... 23 4.1 International standards ............................................................................................................................................ 23 4.2 Regional standards: Europe and Central Asia ......................................................................................................... 25 4.3 National legal and policy frameworks ...................................................................................................................... 27 4.4 Key findings ............................................................................................................................................................. 34 CHAPTER 5: RESEARCH FINDINGS: PARENTING ADOLESCENTS IN THE ECA REGION ............................................................ 37 5.1 How is the parenting of adolescent boys and girls understood, perceived and practiced? ............................................................................................................................................... 37 5.2 How do macro, interpersonal and individual-level factors influence parenting? ...................................................... 49 5.3 Where do adolescents and their parents turn for informal and formal support? ....................................................................................................................................................... 56 A Regional Study on Parenting Adolescents and Parenting Support Programmes in Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro and Romania v PARENTING ADOLESCENTS CHAPTER 6: RESEARCH FINDINGS: PARENTING SUPPORT PROGRAMMES IN THE ECA REGION .......................................... 61 6.1 Parenting support programmes, services and initiatives ......................................................................................... 62 6.2 Gaps, barriers and bottlenecks in parenting support .............................................................................................. 72 6.3 How can parenting support programmes be improved? ......................................................................................... 75 CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................................. 79 7.1 Conclusions .............................................................................................................................................................. 79 7.2 Recommendations ................................................................................................................................................... 81 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................................... 87 International and regional literature .............................................................................................................................. 87 Country-specific literature .............................................................................................................................................. 90 Legal and Policy Documents ......................................................................................................................................... 95 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................................................................ 99 Appendix 1: Research methodology .............................................................................................................................. 99 Appendix 2: Ethics Review Board approval ..................................................................................................................108 Appendix 3: Team structure for the project Parenting Adolescents ..............................................................................109 Appendix 4: List of key informants by country ............................................................................................................. 111 Appendix 5: Examples of Parenting Support Programmes supported by UNICEF in the ECA Region .........................114 Appendix 6: Terms of Reference ...................................................................................................................................115 ENDNOTES ................................................................................................................................................................. 125 A Regional Study on Parenting Adolescents and Parenting Support Programmes in Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro and RomaniaPARENTING ADOLESCENTS vi TABLES, FIGURES AND BOXES Table 1: Sample DeScripTion ........................................................................................................................10Figure 1: an ecological Framework .............................................................................................................12Figure 2: Framework For The analySiS oF Family anD parenTing SupporT .........................................................14box 1: lawS relaTeD To The parenTing oF aDoleScenTS by counTry anD SecTor.................................................. 28box 2: aDoleScence anD parenTal labour migraTion ..................................................................................... 50box 3: Social TranSFormaTionS in a DigiTal age ............................................................................................. 51box 4: caSe STuDy: holTiS aSSociaTion parenT eDucaTion programme, romania ............................................ 64box 5: parenTing SupporT programmeS anD iniTiaTiveS by counTry anD SecTor .................................................. 66 A Regional Study on Parenting Adolescents and Parenting Support Programmes in Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro and Romania vii PARENTING ADOLESCENTS ACRONYMS CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women CEE/CIS Central and Eastern Europe/Commonwealth of Independent States COE Council of Europe CRPD Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities EC European Council ECA Europe and Central Asia ECARO Europe and Central Asia Regional Office EU European Union GC General Comment HIV/AIDS Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome ICESCR International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights IDP Internally Displaced Person LGBTQ Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Questioning NGO Non-Governmental Organisation SDGs Sustainable Development Goals UN United Nations UN CRC United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child UN GACC United Nations Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children UNFPA United Nations Population Fund UNICEF United Nations Childrens Fund WHO World Health Organisation PARENTING ADOLESCENTS UNICEF/Georgia/2018/Jibuti A Regional Study on Parenting Adolescents and Parenting Support Programmes in Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro and Romania 1 PARENTING ADOLESCENTS Chapter 1: Executive Summary Adolescence is a critical period of transition between childhood and adulthood that is characterised by trans-formations in childrens physical, emotional and cognitive development. Within this life stage, children seek to es-tablish their own identity and relationships apart from fam-ily; they are also inclined to experiment and take risks to explore boundaries (Siegel 2013). These natural processes can make adolescence a challenging season - both for ad-olescents and their parents and caregivers. All too often, stereotypes that portray adolescents as moody, volatile or risk-prone reinforce the negative associations many make with children in the second decade of life. Yet the same developmental processes that can make adolescents challenging can also make adolescence a dy-namic life stage full of promise and potential. Advances in neuroscience tell us that the plasticity of the adolescent brain presents a second opportunity to positively influ-ence long-term outcomes and even reverse some of the effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) (Balvin and Banati 2017; Lansford and Banati 2018). Supported and challenged by parents and caregivers who love them unconditionally, adolescents have the relational connec-tion required to build on their strengths to develop com-petencies that enhance their resilience and give them the confidence, character, knowledge and skills they need to cope with adversity, realise their full developmental po-tential, and contribute to family and society (Ginsburg et al. 2015; Siegel 2013). Global evidence indicates that parenting support pro-grammes equip and empower parents and caregivers to improve parenting practices and enhance adolescent well-being and development. However, this evidence primarily comes from high-income contexts and studies of early childhood that focus on ages zero through five. There is a dearth of parenting support programmes in middle-in-come countries and few serve the parents of adolescents. Thus, there is limited evidence for effective interventions, particularly in relation to younger adolescents and those from vulnerable and marginalised backgrounds (Reavely and Sawyer 2017). The regional study Parenting Adolescents expands and deepens the limited evidence base for understanding adolescence, the parenting of adolescents and parent-ing support programmes in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) Region, with a focus on the middle and upper-mid-dle income countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Mol-dova, Montenegro and Romania. Specifically, the study findings and recommendations provide UNICEF and part-ners (government and non-government) with guidance to strengthen and develop regional intervention packag-es for adolescents and their families, and adapt existing good practices, so that national systems can ensure the availability of parenting programmes for parents/caregiv-ers of adolescents, and especially for vulnerable families and adolescents. More broadly, the study aims to raise awareness about the importance of equipping parents A Regional Study on Parenting Adolescents and Parenting Support Programmes in Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro and Romania 2 Chapter 1: Executive Summary PARENTING ADOLESCENTS and caregivers with the support and competencies they need for positive parenting. It also aims to enhance inter-generational dialogue, influence negative social norms re-lated to parenting adolescents, and highlight innovations that could support parents and caregivers of adolescents, including the most vulnerable and marginalised. Rapid political, economic and social transformations and increased family vulnerability in the ECA Region make support for adolescents and their parents/caregivers even more vital. Evidence from the six focal countries shows that several factors at the macro, interpersonal and individ-ual levels are influencing and re-shaping parenting dynam-ics, styles and practices, including in the most vulnerable and marginalised families. The study provides insights into these factors, as well as evidence for understanding how adolescence and the parenting of adolescent boys and girls is understood and practiced in the ECA Region. The study also shows where adolescents and their par-ents turn for informal and formal support, and provides in-sights on how parenting support policies and programmes can be strengthened to meet the needs of adolescents and their parents and caregivers, especially in the most vulnerable and marginalised families. Findings from the six focal countries provide evidence that positive parenting contributes to adolescent wellbe-ing and more favourable long-term outcomes, particularly when it begins in early childhood. While childrens physical dependence on parents decreases throughout adoles-cence, findings show that adolescents navigate these cru-cial years with greater ease with emotionally supportive parents. Parents, defined broadly as those who provide significant or primary care to children, have this influence because they are not only providers, but also childrens pri-mary role models and teachers. When parents and care-givers build attachment and positive connections with ad-olescents, they communicate value and foster resilience, self-esteem and confidence. When they encourage open communication, they instil trust, respect and good deci-sion-making skills. When they criticise, demean or ignore, they set the child up for negative outcomes. The good news is that it is rarely ever too late for posi-tive parenting. Even if it does not begin until adolescence, supportive parents can help realise the second window of opportunity adolescence presents to improve out-comes across the life course. This goal is more likely to be achieved when parents themselves are adequately supported. 1.1 MAIN FINDINGS The main findings from Parenting Adolescents are the re-sult of careful analysis of empirical evidence from in-per-son qualitative research with key informants, parents and caregivers of adolescents, and adolescent boys and girls aged 10 to 17 in the six focal countries. Findings are inter-preted in the context of evidence from a desk review of international, regional and national research on parenting and adolescence in the ECA Region, and an analysis of international, European, regional and national laws and policies that influence the parenting of adolescents in the study countries. The research design and data analysis uses a rights-based, gender-sensitive, intergenerational and equity-focused lens to capture the relationships that shape and inform parenting and adolescent outcomes. The analysis also takes an appreciative approach in that it highlights adolescent and parental strengths over deficits. The legal and policy review finds that existing laws and polices do not adequately address the unique needs of adolescents and their parents. Legal and policy in-struments at all levels define and enforce parents duties of care. However, few instruments mention adolescents specifically. Those that do tend to conceptualise them in terms of risk and vulnerability. Laws and policies fur-ther fail to recognise significant caregivers alongside le- gal parents and guardians. Nor do they acknowledge that parents and caregivers need different types of support according to their childs developmental stage as well as child- or household-related vulnerabilities. Finally, while in-ternational, European and regional instruments detail the States obligation to support parents to fulfil their parental responsibilities, few national legal or policy instruments recognise or make provision for the support parents and caregivers need to fulfil their duties of care. Against this legal-policy backdrop, Parenting Adolescents presents key findings in relation to the studys four re-search questions. 1.1.1 How is parenting understood, practiced and experienced by adolescents and their parents, including the most vulnerable? Parenting Adolescents confirms global evidence that adolescence is a distinct life stage between early chil-dhood and adulthood with characteristics that neces-sitate a shift in the parent-child relationship and pa-renting strategies. While there is considerable variation 2 A Regional Study on Parenting Adolescents and Parenting Support Programmes in Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro and Romania 3Chapter 1: Executive Summary PARENTING ADOLESCENTS in how adolescence and the parenting of adolescents is understood, practiced and experienced within the Region, those parents and caregivers who establish a warm con-nection, trust, respect, open communication and appropri-ate boundaries with their adolescent, and take an author-itative rather than authoritarian - approach to discipline, are able to better prevent and mitigate risks associated with adolescence and enhance their childrens wellbeing and development. Overall, parents remain the most important figures in adolescents lives. In all six countries, adolescents and parents are more likely to discuss their relationship with the other generation in positive rather than negative terms, and most adolescents trust their parents more than their peers. Relatedly, adolescents want and expect their parents to be positive role models. They also need to know that their parents trust and respect them. Adoles-cents say they feel less respected, trusted and loved by parents who use an authoritarian parenting style. Parenting styles, dynamics and practices shift as chil-dren transition to adolescence. More confident in their adolescents capacity to manage him or herself, parents tend to spend less time with older children even though adolescents in the six countries say they still need guid-ance, attention and quality time with their parents. Time and attention makes them feel valued. As children mature, adolescents demand and parents generally give - more autonomy, privacy and decision-making power. Howev-er, across the Region there is also broad consensus and evidence that parents give, and believe they should give, more autonomy and freedom to sons than daughters. While corporal punishment remains widespread and ac-cepted across the Region, most parents shift away from using physical forms of punishment as children transition to adolescence. Even when adolescents and parents en-joy a close connection, these life stage changes often in-crease intergenerational conflict. Parental engagement in different aspects of adoles-cents lives is generally driven by affection and personal obligations of care; however, many parents are also mo-tivated by a fear of perceived risks in their environment especially related to economic uncertainty, drugs and alcohol, and the internet. Parents are most engaged in car-ing for their adolescents material and physical wellbeing. Education is a second, and growing, area of focus as par-ents regard schooling as a primary pathway to economic stability and social mobility. Parents are gradually becom-ing more engaged in supporting their adolescents psy-chosocial health; however, this issue remains surrounded by stigma. Few actively support their adolescents sexual and reproductive health due to a lack of knowledge as well as taboos related to this topic. 1.1.2 How do macro-, interpersonal- and individual-level factors influence the parenting of adolescents, including the most vulnerable? In all six countries, the parenting of adolescents is changing significantly in response to broader politi-cal, economic and social transformations, including the collapse of Communist and authoritarian regimes and the move from a planned economy to a globalised market economy. These transformations have increased econom-ic instability, which is forcing many parents to take multi-ple jobs or migrate for work and thus spend less time with their children. Social norms continue to have a strong im-pact on parenting practices: parents are still influenced by what they learned from their parents. But parents of ado-lescents are also changing generational practices inten-tionally and unintentionally as they struggle to navigate and respond to changing child rights laws and policies, economic uncertainty, global culture and internet use, among other factors. Just one generation ago, an author-itarian parenting style was dominant. While this remains the case, it is becoming more common for parents to be more permissive or use an authoritative style informed by a positive parenting approach. Amidst this change, traditional views of gender roles persist: fathers remain the dominant authority figure while mothers continue to be held accountable for ado-lescent behaviour, especially daughters. Gender bias is particularly strong in ethnic and religious minority house-holds. However, parenting roles are becoming more egali-tarian as mothers increasingly work outside the home and society is exposed to different gender norms. Adolescent roles also tend to be quite gendered, and parents contin-ue to expect daughters to behave more responsibly than sons. But in both rural and urban areas, parents increas-ingly give their sons and daughters similar tasks, or tasks that reflect birth order or household composition as much or more than gender. 1.1.3 Where do adolescents and their parents turn for informal and formal support? Across the six countries and contexts, adolescents and parents primarily turn to immediate and extended family for support, especially grandparents and older adolescents. Single-parent households, and those with a child or parent with a disability or chronic illness, are par-ticularly dependent on family for household and caregiv-ing support. Adolescents also turn to friends for support and Google for information, while parents may turn to a close friend, teacher, medical practitioner and maga-zines, books, TV shows and/or digital media for parenting 3 A Regional Study on Parenting Adolescents and Parenting Support Programmes in Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro and Romania 4 Chapter 1: Executive Summary PARENTING ADOLESCENTS advice and support. But there is a pervasive distrust of neighbours and the State that hinders parents from seek-ing support from either. Parents are also more reticent to seek help from psychologists or child protection services due to the fear of being labelled a bad parent and stigma associated with mental health issues and non-conforming adolescent behaviour. 1.1.4 How can parenting support programmes be strengthened to meet the needs of parents of adolescents, including the most vulnerable? First, by improving availability and access to such programmes. Rapid political, economic and social trans-formations and increased family vulnerability in the ECA Region make support for adolescents and their caregiv-ers more vital than ever. But Parenting Adolescents finds that parenting support programmes, services and ini-tiatives that specifically target parents of adolescents are extremely limited. Most such programmes depend on non-government funding and have limited or no State support. Very few offer universal access. This leaves a sig-nificant gap in support for parents and caregivers of ado-lescents. Throughout the ECA Region, vulnerable parents as well as parents of the most vulnerable adolescents are in most need of support, yet they face many barriers in accessing support services. Many vulnerable adolescents tend to live in households where parents face important challenges, for example, they are a single parent, a parent who migrates for labour, and/or a family member with a disability or chron-ic illness. Those parents need special support. Similarly, special support is needed for parents of vulnerable ado-lescents, for example of adolescents with mental health challenges, disabilities or chronic conditions; adolescent girls from ethnic/religious minority groups; or those from marginalised groups such as adolescents who identify as LGBTQ, who use drugs or are in conflict with the law. Further, parenting support initiatives can be improved in their quality. Such initiatives can be strengthened if they balance global evidence related to programme design with local learning. Many could benefit from im-proved monitoring and evaluation frameworks. In a con-text where parents are often too spent (and disinterested) to engage in impersonal programmes, and parents and key informants complain of thick State bureaucracy and inadequate State provision, parent support initiatives can improve by being more participatory. At a minimum, this means including parents and adolescents in programme design, monitoring and evaluation. For many respondents, this also means programmes follow a peer-support model. Parenting support programmes can also be strengthe-ned if they take a life course and ecological approach wherein both parents and significant caregivers are target-ed for support; they move from a risk-focused to a strength-based approach; they expand to offer universal access; and adolescence is recognised as a distinct life stage that ne-cessitates unique forms of support for parents and caregiv-ers, especially those of the most vulnerable adolescents. 1.2 THE WAY FORWARD Everyone stays in their own silo, there is no collaboration, and parents are left without any support (mother of adolescent with disabilities, Montenegro) As factors at the macro, interpersonal and individual levels converge to influence daily life, parents and caregivers in the study countries need new knowledge, skills and re-sources to not only equip their adolescents to avoid risky behaviours, but also prepare them for adulthood in a rapid-ly changing environment. The following recommendations aim to develop and strengthen legal and policy, research, programmatic, and capacity-building initiatives to support the parenting of adolescents in ECA: Strengthen national legislative and policy frameworks to incorporate States obligations to support parents and caregivers to fulfil their duties of care. Instruments should aim to enhance parents capacities to fulfil their duties, rather than taking a punitive approach. They should also take an appreciative approach that builds on and enhances adolescents and caregivers strengths, rather than focus-ing on their deficits. To be effective, legislation and policy must also include significant caregivers in definitions of parent/s and recognise that caregivers competencies and needs for support vary with their childrens develop-mental stage and specific vulnerability factors. Work towards influencing social norms in order to counter negative stereotypes about adolescents and build awareness among adolescents, parents, care providers, educators, health and social workers about adolescent de- A Regional Study on Parenting Adolescents and Parenting Support Programmes in Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro and Romania 5Chapter 1: Executive Summary PARENTING ADOLESCENTS velopment and about the importance of fostering strong connections and good communication between adoles-cents and their parents/caregivers and communities. Invest in research and evaluation to build on and strengthen the evidence base. Major historical change has introduced new opportunities and challenges for fam-ilies in the ECA Region, especially in relation to parental labour migration and the internet. Thus, research and eval-uation are needed so that key stakeholders clearly under-stand what competencies parents of adolescents need, and what forms of support are most likely to be effec-tive, in the six study countries. It is also critical to conduct evaluations of existing parenting support programmes in the ECA Region and middle and upper-middle income countries to capture lessons learned so that initiatives can be improved and/or scaled up. This will help ensure that interventions are providing relevant and effective support for parents/caregivers of adolescents, including the most vulnerable and marginalised. Strengthen programmes, services and initiatives re-lated to parenting support for parents and caregivers of adolescents. Efforts should focus on strengthening in-tersectoral and horizontal cooperation related to parenting support. Efforts should also build on and strengthen exist-ing sources of informal parenting support, while expand-ing access to formal sources of support for the parents/caregivers of adolescents, including the most vulnerable and marginalised. To achieve this, UNICEF and its state and non-state partners should draw on global and local evi-dence to strengthen existing programmes and develop and implement new initiatives in the ECA Region. They should also ensure that parenting support initiatives plan for long-term sustainability, and that they provide forms of support that are adapted to the local context and flexible enough to respond to the unique needs of parents of adolescents, especially the caregivers of vulnerable adolescents. Build the capacity of state and non-state actors across sectors. Key stakeholders need to be equipped with the skills and competencies needed to understand adoles-cent development. They also need to be trained on the core principles of child resilience and how to identify and build on parents and adolescents strengths and com-petencies, while also recognising and addressing their needs and vulnerabilities. Different platforms and spaces (including virtual ones) also need to be developed to en-hance parental competences. This requires a coordinated and sustained effort at the policy and programmatic levels to improve the relation-ship between parents/caregivers and the systems that provide care and support services to adolescents. It also requires awareness-raising efforts focused on reducing social stigma related to disability, mental health issues, and non-conformity to cultural ideals related to parenting and adolescence, all of which inhibit parents and caregiv-ers (especially the most marginalised and vulnerable) from seeking parenting support. PARENTING ADOLESCENTS UNICEF/Montenegro/2018/Miljanic A Regional Study on Parenting Adolescents and Parenting Support Programmes in Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro and Romania 7 PARENTING ADOLESCENTS Chapter 2: Background 2.1 INTRODUCTION Parenting Adolescents is the culmination of research carried out by UNICEF and Proteknn Consulting Group to examine how the parenting of adolescents is under-stood, experienced and practiced, and to analyse existing parenting programmes and initiatives in the middle- and upper-middle income countries of Eastern Europe, in par-ticular Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, and Romania. Based on empirical evidence gathered from key informants, the parents of adolescents, and adoles-cents themselves, Parenting Adolescents highlights ad-olescent and parental strengths and competencies that contribute to positive adolescent outcomes. At the same time, it shines the light on sources of vulnerability that adolescents and parents/caregivers from the six countries identified as needing parenting support. Lastly, the study examines how the broader environment influences the parenting of adolescents and how parenting is changing. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the collapse of Commu-nist and authoritarian regimes in the Europe and Central Asia Region contributed to uneven shifts in how parent-hood and adolescence are constructed and experienced in the six study countries. The move from planned econ-omies to globalised market economies created new eco-nomic opportunities, but it also created economic instabil-ity and gaps in social welfare support. These changes have negatively impacted many parents capacity to adequately provide for their children; they also help explain the rise of parental labour migration within the Region. At the same time, the rapid introduction and implementation of new international childrens rights laws and policies, combined with the increased exposure to global media, different cultures, and the booming of the internet have pressured parents and adolescents to conform to changing and un-familiar norms, expectations and standards. Countries in the Region are promoting strong family values and paren-tal responsibility, but the parents and caregivers of ado-lescents require additional support to respond to these macro-level changes, including shifts in gender and gen-erational norms (Bruckauf 2015; Cojocaru et al. 2011; Sam-mon et al. 2017; Molinuevo 2012; UNICEF Albania 2016). Given that the family is the most fundamental social unit in every society, States cannot realise the Sustainable De-velopment Goals (SDGs) if parents and caregivers lack the capacity to adequately support their children. As former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stated, The very achieve-ment of development goals depends on how well families are empowered to contribute to the achievement of those goals. Thus, policies focusing on improving the well-being of families are certain to benefit development (Report of the UN Secretary General, 2010, A/66/62E/2011/4). In this regard, adolescence and support for parenting adolescents is quickly being recognised as a strategic second window of opportunity to intervene to support childrens develop-ment and promote positive long-term outcomes for individ- A Regional Study on Parenting Adolescents and Parenting Support Programmes in Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro and Romania 8 Chapter 2: Background PARENTING ADOLESCENTS uals, families and society. One reason for this is that new scientific evidence on the plasticity of the adolescent brain and development demonstrates that adolescence presents a second opportunity - after early childhood - to help chil-dren acquire the social, emotional, physical and cognitive capabilities essential to their development and long-term wellbeing (Sheehan et al. 2017, 1792). Further, given that adolescents are on the cusp of adulthood, interventions (or a lack thereof) have spill over effects that directly influence the health and wellbeing of the next generation adoles-cents future children. Parenting and caregiving that pro-motes intergenerational connection and understanding is fundamental to realising this opportunity (Siegel 2013). A growing body of evidence indicates that parenting sup-port programmes can improve parenting practices and en-hance child wellbeing (Molinuevo 2012; WHO 2007; Daly et al. 2015; Gardner 2017). Further, this evidence suggests that parenting programmes can reduce family conflict and improve parent-adolescent communication. This can, in turn, reduce the risk of substance abuse and atten-tion-seeking behaviour among adolescents and contribute to improved adolescent outcomes in relation to education, health, psychosocial wellbeing, and sexual and reproduc-tive health (Pickering and Sanders 2015). According to a UNICEF-Innocenti global review of family support programmes, this evidence primarily comes from high-income contexts and studies of early childhood that focus on ages zero through five. Middle-income countries exhibit a dearth of parent support programmes, and few existing programmes or initiatives serve the parents of ad-olescents (Daly et al. 2015). There is also limited evidence for effective interventions, particularly in relation to young-er adolescents and those from vulnerable and marginal-ised backgrounds (Reavely and Sawyer 2017), particularly in middle-income countries. This study seeks to provide an evidence base for devel-oping and strengthening parent support policies, pro-grammes and initiatives in the ECA Region, with the ulti-mate aim of improving the parenting of adolescents and adolescent outcomes, including for the most vulnerable and marginalised boys and girls. 2.2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY The regional study Parenting Adolescents has three pri-mary aims in relation to the six study countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, and Romania: To this end, the research findings are organised around four key research questions: 1. From a life-course perspective, how is parenting un-derstood, perceived, and practiced by the parents/caregivers of adolescent boys and girls and by ado-lescent themselves, including the most vulnerable? 2. From an ecological systems perspective, how do macro, interpersonal, and individual-level factors in-fluence parenting dynamics, styles, and practices, including in the most vulnerable families? 3. Where do adolescents and their parents/caregivers turn for informal and formal support? 4. How can parenting support programmes be strength-ened to meet the needs of parents of adolescents? At all stages of this study, the research was adolescent--centred in its approach. To this end, the study team devel-oped participatory, gender and age-appropriate activities for the adolescent-focused group discussions that were linked to the research questions and concepts. The activi-ties included icebreakers, games, drawing, picture cards, drama, dance, and music. This approach gave adolescents an opportunity to express their opinions freely and in a manner in which they felt comfortable. Further, through- Study objectives: To provide an evidence base for how the parenting of adolescent boys and girls, including the most vulnerable and marginalised, is understood and experienced by adolescents and parents/caregivers of adolescents; To examine how factors at the macro-, interpersonal- and individual-level influence parenting dynamics, styles and practices, including in the most vulnerable families; and To undertake a qualitative review of parenting support initiatives for parents of adolescents. A Regional Study on Parenting Adolescents and Parenting Support Programmes in Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro and Romania 9Chapter 2: Background PARENTING ADOLESCENTS out the data analysis and writing, every effort has been made to present a diversity of views while foregrounding adolescent views through verbatim quotes, in accordance with good research practice and Article 12 of the UN Con-vention on the Rights of the Child. Because parenthood and adolescence are inherently re-lational institutions, the research design and data analy-sis for Parenting Adolescents used a rights-based, gen-der-sensitive, intergenerational and equity-focused lens to capture the relationships that shape and inform par-enting and adolescent outcomes. The analysis also takes an appreciative approach in that it highlights parenting strengths over deficits. This allows us to identify and build upon parenting practices and dynamics that contribute to positive adolescent outcomes, while also identifying fac-tors that increase vulnerability and risk to inform targeted interventions. The findings and recommendations from this study pro-vide UNICEF and its partners (State and non-State) with guidance to strengthen and develop regional intervention packages for adolescents and their families, and adapt ex-isting good practices, so that national systems can ensure that parenting programmes for parents/caregivers of ado-lescents are available, accessible and relevant, especially for the most vulnerable and marginalised. 2.2.1 Research methods Research for the study comes from multiple sources: Primary research and analysis performed by six trained and experienced national research teams for six weeks, between October and December 2017; Desk reviews of international, regional and national secondary research on parenting, parenting support programmes and adolescence in the ECA Region con-ducted by the international reasearch team and the six national research teams (see Appendix 1); Analyses of international, regional, and national laws and policies, which together provide a legal and policy framework for the parenting of adolescents and parent-ing programmes and initiatives in the ECA Region. Team composition for the study is presented in Appendix 3. In September 2017, the research tools were piloted in ru-ral and urban areas in Romania. The testing included eight focus groups discussions with adolescents and parents, and two key informant interviews with service providers. The pilot targeted some of the most vulnerable popula-tions, including adolescents living in residential care, Roma parents and adolescents, adolescents with disabilities, and parents and adolescents living in contexts of poverty. Following the pilot, the research tools were revised and included in the training materials for a two-day capacity strengthening training that was developed and facilitat-ed by UNICEF and Proteknn. The training was held in Bu-charest for the UNICEF Focal Points in each country and the national research teams, which were selected by the UNICEF Country Offices. Because diverse factors converge to influence the parent-ing of adolescents, the primary research was qualitati-ve. This approach allowed researchers to capture trends and gain some understanding into the forces that influ-ence the parenting of adolescents, parenting support, and adolescent outcomes in different contexts and situations. National research teams used purposive sampling to capture the views and experiences of males and fe-males, younger and older adolescents, rural and urban populations, and different socio-economic and vulnerable groups. Key informants were selected from the national and sub-national levels for their expertise. They included policy makers, legislators, ministry officials, state and non-state service providers working in the education, health and social and child protection sectors, as well as practi-tioners, civil society actors, and community leaders. Special effort was made to include adolescents and pa-rents/caregivers from vulnerable and marginalised fa-milies and communities to determine how vulnerability and marginalisation influence the parenting of adolescents and adolescent outcomes. Findings from these participants also help to ascertain whether parenting support policies and programmes are providing adequate and appropriate support for those who face multiple deprivations and high-er risks of poverty, violence, discrimination and exclusion. Depending on the focal country, these respondents includ-ed adolescents and parents/caregivers from ethnic and re-ligious minority groups; with disabilities or chronic illness; living in poverty; and/or living in households with a labour migrant parent. Respondents also included adolescents in conflict with the law, with substance use disorders, and/or living in alternative care or residential care institutions. To elicit the views and experiences of such a diverse sam-ple, this study used research methods that were age- and socially-appropriate, gender-sensitive, and equity-focu-sed. Primary research findings in the six study countries were captured through a combination of semi-structured A Regional Study on Parenting Adolescents and Parenting Support Programmes in Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro and Romania 10 Chapter 2: Background PARENTING ADOLESCENTS interviews with key informants (67), in-depth interviews (8), participatory focus groups with parents/caregivers (45), and adolescent-centred focus group discussions (49). A list of key informants is provided in Appendix 4. Two additional case studies of parenting programmes
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