Poster Presentation 6th World Congress on Positive Psychology 2019

Postnatal Thriving Integrating Positive Psychology Into Antenatal Education To Create Flourishing Families (#841)

Caroline Zavolokin 1
  1. Central Coast Local Health District, Gosford, NSW, Australia

Extending the reach of wellbeing science beyond the individual and into families was one of the foundational mandates of positive psychology. The link between parent and child wellbeing and the impact that self-efficacy has on parenting has been well documented in much of the developmental literature and there has been increasing interest in the application of positive psychology into parenting research and practice. However, one area that has been under-represented in this approach is the area of antenatal parenting education. This exciting period in a couple’s life can at times give rise to anxiety and stress and consequently most antenatal education programs focus on minimising risk of stress and postnatal depression and the concomitant implications for both mother and infant. This study uses a mixed-methods design to examine the effect of integrating positive psychology education and interventions into a regional antenatal education program. It is expected that the integration of character strengths, gratitude and savouring into the program will lead to increased parental self-efficacy and wellbeing, and in turn to postnatal thriving and overall flourishing families.