The authors tested a 12-week parent training program with parents (n = 208) and teachers (n = 77) of 2-3-year-olds in day care centers serving low-income families of color in Chicago. Eleven centers were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 conditions: (a) parent and teacher training (PT + TT), (b) parent training (PT), (c) teacher training (TT), and (d) waiting list control (C). After controlling for parent stress, PT and PT + TT parents reported higher self-efficacy and less coercive discipline and were observed to have more positive behaviors than C and TT parents. Among toddlers in high-risk behavior problem groups, toddlers in the experimental conditions showed greater improvement than controls. Most effects were retained 1 year later. Benefits were greatest when parents directly received training.

Low-income urban parents of color enrolled in a parent training study were interviewed to understand what motivated their participationand what led 30% of them to subsequently drop out. Most enrolled because they wanted to be better parents. Most dropped out because of time and schedule constraints. Retention was higher when parents' motivations for participation matched program goals. Program location and qualities of the recruiter were cited most often as important; financial compensation was cited least often as important.

This study tested the efficacy of a 12-session parent training program, the Chicago Parent Program (CPP), which was developed in collaboration with African American and Latino parents. Using growth curve modeling, data were analyzed from 253 parents (58.9% African American, 32.8% Latino) of 2-4 year old children enrolled in 7 day care centers serving low-income families. Day care centers were matched and randomly assigned to intervention and waiting-list control conditions. At 1-year follow-up, intervention group parents used less corporal punishment and issued fewer commands with their children. Intervention children exhibited fewer behavior problems during observed play and clean-up sessions than controls. Additional group differences were observed when dose was included in the analytic model. Parents who participated in at least 50% of CPP sessions also reported greater improvements in parenting self-efficacy, more consistent discipline, greater warmth, and a decline in child behavior problems when compared to reports from controls. The implications of these results for preventive parent training with low-income African American and Latino parents and the role of intervention dose on parent-child outcomes are discussed.Keywords parent training; ethnic minority; prevention; preschool Parent training is one of the most widely studied interventions for reducing childhood behavior problems, increasing positive parenting behaviors, and reducing parent reliance on harsh disciplinary strategies (Kazdin, 1997;McMahon, 1999;Sanders, 2007). Moreover, many studies have shown that parent training effects can be maintained over time (Gross et al., 2003;Irvine, Biglan, Smolkowski, Metzler, & Ary, 1999;Strayhorn & Weidman, 1991;Webster-Stratton, 1998b). As a result, parent training is increasingly used, both exclusively or as a component of more comprehensive prevention programs to reduce behavioral risk among children from low-income families (Conduct Problems Prevention Group, 1999;Dumas, Prinz, Smith, & Laughlin, 1999;Gottfredson et al., 2006). NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH Public Access NIH-PA Author ManuscriptPreventive interventions targeting low-income families typically include a large number of African-American and Latino families, primarily due to the fact that these ethnic minority groups are disproportionately represented among those living in poverty (Corcoran & Adams, 1997). Yet many of the empirically-supported interventions used to help low-income and ethnic minority parents were originally developed and tested on middle-income and non-Latino White samples (Coard, Wallace, Stevenson, & Brotman, 2004;Forehand & Kotchick, 1996;Gorman & Balter, 1997).Research shows that economically disadvantaged families tend to receive less benefit from parent training than families from higher socioeconomic groups (Lundahl, Risser, & Lovejoy, 2006), a finding some have attributed to the various correlates of economic disadvantage (Dumas & Wahler, 1983). However, it is possible that diminished ...

This paper describes parent participation in a clinical trial of preventive parent training (PT) targeting low-income parents of young children. Participation encompassed enrollment, attendance, and engagement. Average enrollment rate was 34.9%, although enrollment rates were significantly higher in the control (39.1%) than in the intervention (30.6%) centers. Parents attended an average of 39% of the PT sessions. Higher attendance was associated with lower parenting self-efficacy, more parent-reported child behavior problems, and attending the first PT session. Level of engagement in the PT sessions was related to improvements in parent and child outcomes. Findings suggest that attendance is linked to parent perceived need for help and that resources should be focused on ensuring parent attendance at the first intervention session.

Data were merged from two prevention randomized trials testing 1-year outcomes of a parenting skills program, the Chicago Parent Program (CPP), and comparing its effects for African-American (n=291) versus Latino (n=213) parents and their preschool children. Compared to controls, intervention parents had improved self-efficacy, used less corporal punishment and more consistent discipline, and demonstrated more positive parenting. Intervention children had greater reductions in behavior problems based on parent-report, teacher-report, and observation. Although improvements from CPP were evident for parents in both racial/ethnic groups, Latino parents reported greater improvements in their children’s behavior and in parenting self-efficacy but exhibited greater decreases in praise. Findings support the efficacy of the CPP for African American and Latino parents and young children from low-income urban communities.