Designing a Parent Education Programme for Improving Emotional Support Skills in North West Nigerian Families

Parents in North West Nigeria often lack structured guidance on providing emotionally responsive parenting that supports children's psychological development, and professionally designed parent education programmes addressing this gap are scarce. This study designed a parent education programme aimed at improving emotional support skills among parents of school-aged children in Kano and Kebbi States, North West Nigeria. A programme design methodology was employed, drawing on emotional coaching theory, parenting research, and focus group consultations with 40 parents, eight primary school teachers, and four counsellors across the two states. Focus groups revealed that parents commonly used dismissive or punitive responses to children's negative emotions, had limited vocabulary for emotion discussion, and rarely engaged children in problem-solving for emotional difficulties. The programme designed comprises eight two-hour modules delivered in weekly community group sessions, covering emotion coaching fundamentals, recognising and validating children's emotions, responding to emotion with empathy, emotion problem-solving guidance, managing parental emotional reactivity, navigating cultural parenting norms and modern emotional support, and building long-term emotional connection. Materials are provided in Hausa with oral facilitation guidelines for low-literacy participants. Role-play activities and home practice assignments are included in each module. Expert review by 10 parent education and counselling specialists confirmed the programme's theoretical grounding and cultural sensitivity. The study recommends delivery through mosque-based parent education networks in Kano and community development centres in Kebbi.

Keywords: parent education programme, emotional support, parenting, North West Nigeria, family counselling