ABSTRACT
This study examined the impact of the Tuning in to Kids (TIK) parenting programme for military fathers, their spouses and their children aged 4–6 years. TIK is designed for parents of children aged 4–12 and provides guidance on enhancing parental emotion socialisation. The programme uses an emotion-focused approach to improve parent emotional functioning, emotion coaching, parent–child relationships, and children’s emotional, social and behavioural functioning. In this study, TIK was delivered separately to mothers and fathers in group settings. Participants included 12 military fathers, their spouses, and their children aged 4 and 6. An experimental design without a control condition was employed. Measures included the Children’s Emotion Knowledge Test, Social Problem Solving Skills Scale, and parent report measures of Reactions to Children’s Emotions and Coping with Children’s Negative Emotions Scale. Findings indicated that TIK participation was associated with increases in parents’ reported emotional socialisation behaviours. Children’s also showed improvements in emotion understanding and social problem solving skills. These preliminary findings suggest the programme may benefit military families, highlighting the need for further evaluation with larger samples.