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A Pilot Randomized Trial of Community-Based Parent Training for Immigrant Latina Mothers

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American Journal of Community Psychology

Abstract

This paper reports on the development and piloting of the Madres a Madres (Mothers to Mothers) program, a new, community-based parent training program designed for immigrant Latina mothers and their children. Promotoras, or female community health workers of Latina background, delivered the program in a home visitation format. A total of 194 mothers and 194 focal children (87 male, 107 female) ages 7–12 were randomized to the intervention (113 mother–child dyads) or wait-list control condition (81 mother–child dyads) over the study period. Outcomes of interest were mother-reported parenting skills, broad family functioning, and child externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Data collection occurred at pretest, 3-month posttest, and 9-month follow-up periods. Multilevel growth models revealed increases in intervention mothers’ reported parenting skills, family support, and family organization, and reductions in child internalizing behavior from pretest to follow-up, relative to the control condition. Outcomes did not vary by focal child age, gender, nativity status, or mother acculturative status (years in the United States). Findings are discussed in the context of future directions for research on the Madres a Madres program and on the implementation and dissemination of empirically-supported parent training practices to culturally diverse families.

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Notes

  1. Models were tested using both linear and nonlinear approaches and showed the same pattern of results.

  2. These analyses are not included in table format due to space limitations.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Grant #5U49CE000734), and through a collaboration between Latino Health Access (LHA) and the Southern California Academic Center of Excellence on Youth Violence Prevention at the University of California at Riverside. We would like to thank LHA, Dr. Cristina Jose Kampfner, and the families and promotoras from the LHA community who partnered with us to design the intervention and carry out the research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Delaware, 108 Wolf Hall, Newark, DE, 19716, USA

    Ariel A. Williamson & Nancy G. Guerra

  2. L.A. Net, Long Beach, CA, 90803, USA

    Lyndee Knox

  3. Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, University of Delaware, 322 Smith Hall, Newark, DE, 19716, USA

    Kirk R. Williams

Authors
  1. Ariel A. Williamson
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  2. Lyndee Knox
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  3. Nancy G. Guerra
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  4. Kirk R. Williams
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Correspondence to Ariel A. Williamson.

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Williamson, A.A., Knox, L., Guerra, N.G. et al. A Pilot Randomized Trial of Community-Based Parent Training for Immigrant Latina Mothers. Am J Community Psychol 53, 47–59 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-013-9612-4

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