A Balancing Act: Integrating Evidence‐Based Knowledge and Cultural Relevance in a Program of Prevention Parenting Research with Latino/a Immigrants

Abstract

Family therapists have a unique opportunity to contribute toward the reduction of widespread mental health disparities impacting diverse populations by developing applied lines of research focused on cultural adaptation. For example, although evidence‐based prevention parent training (PT) interventions have been found to be efficacious with various Euro‐American populations, there is a pressing need to understand which specific components of PT interventions are perceived by ethnic minority parents as having the highest impact on their parenting practices. Equally important is to examine the perceived cultural relevance of adapted PT interventions. This qualitative investigation had the primary objective of comparing and contrasting the perceived relevance of two culturally adapted versions of the efficacious parenting intervention known as Parent Management Training, the Oregon Model (PMTO). According to feasibility indicators provided by 112 Latino/a immigrant parents, as well as findings from a qualitative thematic analysis, the core parenting components across both adapted interventions were identified by the majority of research participants as relevant to their parenting practices. Participants exposed to the culturally enhanced intervention, which included culture‐specific sessions, also reported high satisfaction with components exclusively focused on cultural issues that directly impact their parenting practices (e.g., immigration challenges, biculturalism). This investigation illustrates the relevant contributions that family therapy scholars can offer toward addressing mental health disparities, particularly as it refers to developing community‐based prevention interventions that achieve a balance between evidence‐based knowledge and cultural relevance.

Healing through Parenting: An Intervention Delivery and Process of Change Model Developed with Low‐Income Latina/o Immigrant Families

“…For example, the vast majority of parents in our studies were raised in impoverished communities with caregivers exposed to intense poverty, shortage of basic services, including lack of access to mental health services, and parenting prevention programs. Similarly, parents in our studies have consistently reported exposure to various instances of discrimination in the US as low-income immigrants (Parra-Cardona et al, 2016, 2018). …”

“…Based on empirical findings from our studies, we have corroborated the positive impact of overtly addressing core attachment principles with parents (Parra-Cardona et al, 2016, 2018). However, rather than seeking to address in depth caregivers’ issues of insecure attachments with their own parents, our approach has focused on conveying to parents the importance of being the sources of attachment security for their children, as well as the ways in which specific GenerationPMTO parenting skills can promote attachment security (e.g., consistently praising children for good behavior).…”

“…First, the initial component, embracing the dream, is focused on the need to ground the parenting intervention according to the immigrant experiences that are most salient to parents. Specifically, our cultural adaptation studies have indicated the critical importance of framing the intervention according to the harsh realities of oppression that parents face as immigrants, as well as the motivations they embrace that help them cope with the various forms of adversity that they experience (Parra-Cardona et al, 2016, 2018). Subsequent components are situated according to the theoretical premises of the GenerationPMTO intervention.…”

“…We refer the reader to the original reports of the cultural adaptation studies, which include detailed descriptions of adaptations to curricula according to type of target family (i.e., families with young children vs. adolescents), details of the research designs, and quantitative and qualitative findings from the randomized controlled trials (Parra-Cardona et al, 2012, 2016, 2017a, 2018). …”

“…In fact, it is common for parents to express that their own experiences of success as parents constitute a precursor for understanding their parents’ deficient caregiving behaviors. Parents also frequently report how their own parenting experiences facilitate a process of forgiveness for the maltreatment or neglect that they experienced as children (Parra-Cardona et al, 2016). …”