The main objectives of the study are:

1. To find out the effectiveness of Helpful Parenting Program (HPP) for psychological functioning of children's parent having behavioral and emotional issues.
2. To decrease psychological distress among children's parent having behavioral and emotional issues.

In this Helpful Parenting Program, N=200 participants would be enrolled for eligibility assessment from different schools in Faisalabad. 70 participants after the eligibility assessment and screening would be allocated to experimental and waitlist treatment condition. Participants would be allocated through random assignment using block randomization. In experimental group, the parents of children with emotional & behavioral issues will be included and 8 to 10 sessions of helpful parenting program would be provided to the parents. Each of the group will be comprised of n=35.

Eligibility Criteria:

Only parents with dysfunctional parenting practices, having children with emotional and behavioral issues would be a part of the study. Second, Only parents would be included in the study who score above 18 on SDQ-4. Only parents having children aged 5 to 12 years would be included in the study. Parents with major psychological disorders would be excluded from the study. The parent served as single parent would be excluded from the study.The participants would be taken from any socioeconomic status.

Interventions:

8-10 sessions with 60 minutes duration once in a week will be conducted with the parents in group and one-on-one setting. Helpful parenting program would be based on social learning theory, behavior modification and couple counseling. The program will be used as an intervention strategy with parents to built insight about their child's emotional & behavioral issues. Different strategies to teach parenting skills will also be used as an intervention. Further more, this program will target parents' psychological distress and couples' problematic conflicts regarding parenting.

Expected Outcomes:

This study will help to provide valuable information to mental health professionals to understand and develop guidelines for parents of children with emotional & behavioral issues. Further, this program would decrease psychological distress & couple's problematic conflicts among parents and improve the psychological functioning of parents. Moreover, this program will improve parental competence and make them independent problem solvers.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Only parents with dysfunctional parenting practices, having children with emotional and behavioral issues would be a part of the study. Second, Only parents would be included in the study who score above 18 on SDQ-4. Only parents having children aged 5 to 12 years would be included in the study. The participants would be taken from any socioeconomic status.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Parents with major psychological disorders would be excluded from the study. The parent served as single parent would be excluded from the study.