Parent Training and Skill Acquisition and Utilization Among Spanish- and English-Speaking Latino Families

• Published in: Journal of child and family studies Vol. 27; no. 1; pp. 268 - 279
• Main Authors: Ramos, Giovanni, Blizzard, Angela M., Barroso, Nicole E., Bagner, Daniel M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-01-2018; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acculturation; Acquisition; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Child and School Psychology; Child poverty; Children; Clinical trials; Coding; Cultural values; Dyads; Educational programs; Evaluation; Families & family life; Family (Sociological Unit); Hispanic Americans; Home based; Infants; Mother-infant relations; Mothers; Multiple Regression Analysis; Original Paper; Parent Child Relationship; Parent training; Parent-Child interaction therapy; Parent-child relations; Parenthood education; Parenting Styles; Parents & parenting; Poverty; Psychology; Skill Development; Skills; Social Sciences; Sociology; Young Children; Cultural adaptation; Parent training; PCIT; Latino; Mastery criteria
• ISSN: 1062-1024; 1573-2843
• DOI: 10.1007/s10826-017-0881-7

In the U.S., there is a growing Latino population, in which parents primarily speak Spanish to their children. Despite the evidence that language preference is associated with level of acculturation and influences parenting practices in these families, no study has compared how Spanish- and English-speaking Latino families acquire and utilize the skills taught during parent-training programs such as Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). Twenty-seven mother-infant Latino dyads received a home-based adaptation of the Child-Directed Interaction (CDI) phase of PCIT as part of a larger randomized control trial. Most infants were male (63%), and their average age was 13.7 months (
SD
 = 1.43). Most families (52%) lived below the poverty line. The Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System-Third Edition (DPICS-III) was employed to evaluate PCIT skills at baseline and post-treatment, as well as at 3- and 6-month follow-up, assessments. We conducted multiple linear regression analyses among Spanish-speaking (55%) and English-speaking (45%) families to examine differences in acquisition and utilization of do and don’t skills at each assessment while controlling for mother’s education. Results yielded no group differences in the acquisition rate of do or don’t skills at any time point. However, Spanish-speaking mothers used significantly more don’t skills than English-speaking mothers at each assessment. Specifically, Spanish-speaking families used significantly more commands at baseline, post-treatment, and the 6-month follow-up assessments, as well as more questions at post-treatment and at the 6-month follow-up assessments. These findings highlight the importance of addressing cultural values such as
respeto
to ensure culturally robust parent-training programs for Latino families.