Survey of intention among public health nurses in providing solution‐focused parenting support

OBJECTIVE: Parenting support has shifted from a problem‐focused to a strengths‐based solution‐focused approach. This study surveyed public health nurses to explain their intention to provide solution‐focused parenting support in their practice. DESIGN: The design of this study was cross‐sectional. SAMPLE: The initial sample included 781 public health nurses who were employed with various youth healthcare organizations in the Netherlands. MEASUREMENTS: Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, a questionnaire was developed and administered to measure (a) behavioral, normative, and control beliefs, (b) attitudes, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control, and (c) intention. The data were subjected to structural equation modeling. RESULTS: A total of 449 (57.5%) public health nurses completed questionnaires. Associations as indicated by the Theory of Planned Behavior were confirmed with the exception of that between perceived behavioral control and intention. Statistically significant paths and correlations were added. The final model accounted for 53% of the variance in the intention to perform solution‐focused parenting support. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, public health nurses strongly intended to provide solution‐focused parenting support, thus indicating their acceptance of the approach. Their intention was predominantly associated with subjective norm.