A Review of the Nurtured Heart Approach to Parenting: Evaluation of its Theoretical and Empirical Foundations

Abstract

The Nurtured Heart Approach to parenting (NHA; Glasser & Easley, 2008) is summarized and evaluated in terms of its alignment with current theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence in family studies and developmental science. Originally conceived and promoted as a behavior management approach for parents of difficult children (i.e., with behavior disorders), NHA is increasingly offered as a valuable strategy for parents of any children, despite a lack of published empirical support. Parents using NHA are trained to minimize attention to undesired behaviors, provide positive attention and praise for compliance with rules, help children be successful by scaffolding and shaping desired behavior, and establish a set of clear rules and consequences. Many elements of the approach have strong support in the theoretical and empirical literature; however, some of the assumptions are more questionable, such as that negative child behavior can always be attributed to unintentional positive reinforcement by parents responding with negative attention. On balance, NHA appears to promote effective and validated parenting practices, but its effectiveness now needs to be tested empirically.

A Nonrandomized Evaluation of a Brief Nurtured Heart Approach Parent Training Program

“…The components of these untested programs may well include empirically validated strategies. NHA, for example, was atheoretical in its creation, having been based on clinical observations, but the strategies that parents learn in NHA are consistent with developmental theory and have been found to be effective as separate practices (Hektner et al 2013). What has not yet been tested is the packaging of those strategies and the unique ways in which NHA communicates those strategies as a coherent program.…”

“…In addition, NHA is taught to parents through the extensive use of metaphors and analogies, a practice shown to increase comprehension and acceptance of behavioral methods (Rolider et al 1998). See Hektner et al (2013) for a description of some of these metaphors; others are summarized below. Due primarily to anecdotal reports of effectiveness and the popular response to the books and website of its developer (e.g.…”

Thematic review of family therapy journals in 2013

“…), a review of the Nurtured Heart Approach to parenting children with behaviour problems (Hektner et al . ), a study of predictors of fathers' enrolment in family interventions (Wong et al . ), an evaluation of an intensive couple relationship education programme for fragile families (Wilde and Doherty, ), a study of group cohesion in relationship education programmes (Owen et al .…”

Editorial: Programs for Strengthening Families

“…This issue features several papers that describe and evaluate programs for strengthening families (Hektner, Brennan, & Brotherson, ; Roux, Sofronoff, & Sanders, ; Shamblen, Arnold, McKiernan, Collins, & Strader, ; Valdez, Abegglen, & Hauser, ; Valdez, Padilla, Moore, & Magaña, b; Wilde & Doherty, ; Wong, Roubinov, Gonzales, Dumka, & Millsap, ). Programs that apply core understandings about family process targeted at improving broad aspects of family life, such as parenting and couple relationships, as well as more specific issues that arise in family life, number among the most significant advances in our field over the last decades.…”

“…Hektner et al. 's () article extends such work in another way, bringing an empirical lens to a widely circulated program that has not been subject to much research: the Nurtured Heart approach to parenting. Focusing on unmarried couples, Wilde and Doherty () examine the impact of an innovative couple relationship education program on “fragile” families with unmarried parents.…”