About this srcd poster session

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Panel information
Panel 16. Prevention and Interventions

Abstract

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Parenting programs help new and experienced parents develop and practice parenting skills in community contexts (Duncan & Goddard, 2017). Current researchers recognize the importance of linguistically- and culturally-specific parenting programs to support Latinx/e communities (Perreira et al., 2006). Although research often refers to Latinx/e families as a monolithic community, there is significant diversity within the community related to language, acculturation, and other factors (Ramos et al., 2018), leading to unique parenting strengths and challenges (Lim et al., 2023; Amin et al., 2018). Ensuring the effectiveness of parenting programs for the Latinx/e community requires a nuanced understanding of family strengths and needs. In our study, we use statewide data to explore: How do Latinx/e families differ on parenting knowledge and skills based on language of participation (English/Spanish) before and after participation in a parenting education series? Guided by Yosso’s cultural wealth model (2005), we hypothesize that there may be differences between families associated with linguistic capital at pre-test and that differences may change following participation. Our study includes Latinx/e families (N=339) who participated in parenting education classes through a statewide parenting education system between July 2022-June 2023. Parents completed surveys and participated in programs in English (n=137) or Spanish (n=202), were 36.9 years on average (sd=8.9 years, range: 16-65), 82% female, had an average of 2.43 children (sd=2.43, range 1=7), and 76% were parenting with a partner. In addition to demographic data, we used the Parenting Skills Ladder (PSL), a retrospective pre-post measure (Pratt et al., 2014) to assess 12 items (0=low, 6=high) associated with the frequency of a range of parenting beliefs and behaviors before and after participating in a parenting class series (for example items, see Table 1). We used Stata 18.0 to conduct a series of 24 multiple regression analyses to test for differences between language groups (English/Spanish) on each item of the PSL as scored before participation in a parenting series and again after, controlling for parent age, gender, parenting method, and income. Results show significant differences at baseline on each PSL item between families participating in English and Spanish (see Table 1). Specifically, families participating in English scored higher on 10 of 12 items (p<.01-.001), with families participating in Spanish scoring significantly higher on two items (“protecting children from unsafe situations” and “dealing with day-to-day parenting stress”). At post-test, all families showed significant improvement on all items, but there were no longer significant differences between individual items based on participation language (with one exception; see Table 2). Results suggest that Latinx/e families (based on language participation) may have different needs shaped by linguistic capital and their relationships with the community and broader societal systems. Regardless of participation language, all parents benefitted from community-based parenting classes and disparities between language groups were minimized following participation. Our results further suggest that community-based parenting programs may be an effective way to support community and positive parenting for Latinx/e families.

Author information

Author	Role
Iriana M. Munoz, Oregon State University	Presenting author
Shauna Tominey, Oregon State University	Non-presenting author
Michaella Sektnan, Oregon State University	Non-presenting author

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