Participants assigned to the intervention group will receive the Positive Parenting Skills Training.

Participants assigned to the wait-list control group will receive no intervention for the duration of this trial. Only after the one-year follow-up assessment has been completed will they receive the Positive Parenting Skills Training.

This parenting programme is delivered by facilitators from the Parent Centre. It is intended for any caregivers of children between the ages of 6-12 years. It consists of seven weekly 3-hour sessions, and is group-based. Once the group size reaches 20 or more people sessions are co-facilitated. The first session provides an overview of the programme. The remaining sessions consider topics including: factors that affect child behaviour, understanding children's feelings, building children's self-esteem, assertive parenting, gaining child-co-operation, effective discipline, and problem solving. The programme is knowledge-based and encourages the development of various parenting skills through the inclusion of experiential activities (e.g., role-plays and homework practice).

The PS is a self-report measure that can be used to assess dysfunctional discipline practices of parents of young children. It has been validated on a sample of parents who had children between the ages of 5-12 years. The scale is comprised of three factors: verbosity, overreactivity and laxness. It consists of 30 items which can be answered on a 7-point scale. Scale anchors vary per question but are essentially parenting mistakes paired with more effective parenting behaviours (e.g., "I often hold a grudge" vs. "things get back to normal quickly").

The PBI is a self-report measure that is suggested to reflect two dimensions of parenting behaviour: (1) hostile/coercive "behaviour which expresses negative affect or indifference toward the child" and could include using physical punishment, threat or coercion to influence child behaviour; and (2) supportive/engaged parenting which reflects parental acceptance of a child through signs of affection, instrumental and emotional support and shared activities. It is suitable for use with parents of children who are young school-age. The PBI consists of 20 items which can be answered on a 5-point Likert-type scale. Scale anchors range from "not at all true" to "very true".

The PARYC is a self-report measure which assesses the frequency of engagement with particular parenting behaviours towards children, on a 7-point Likert scale from "not at all" to "most of the time". It also determines whether performing this behaviour is seen as a problem for the parent with response options including either "yes" or "no". This evaluation will only utilise the Settling Limits subscale which consists of 7 items. The convergent validity of the scale is supported.

This measure is a parent self-report. The PSOC's factor structure is composed of two dimensions of parenting self-esteem namely, efficacy and satisfaction. The scale consists of 17 items which can be answered on a 6-point Likert-type scale ranging from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree." Some of these items are reverse scored. The scale and its respective subscales have demonstrated high levels of internal consistency. The subscale's convergent and divergent validity are also supported.