Building bridges through cultural adaptation: Examining the initial impact of a culturally adapted parent training intervention for the Chilean context.

Child exposure to maltreatment and neglect constitutes a significant public health problem throughout Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries. Although evidence-based parent training (PT) interventions constitute an empirically demonstrated alternative to prevent child maltreatment and neglect, multiple implementation barriers have prevented the large-scale dissemination of evidence-based PT interventions across LAC countries. This selective prevention study consisted of an exploratory quasi-experimental design implemented in Chile, aimed at examining the initial impact of a culturally adapted version of the evidence-based PT intervention known as GenerationPMTO©. The parenting intervention was adapted in a previous pilot study, according to a rigorous model of cultural adaptation. Based on self-reports completed by 281 caregivers, when compared to baseline measurements, significant improvements at intervention completion were observed in the majority of caregivers' parenting practices, as well as child internalizing and externalizing problematic behaviors. This study provides promising initial empirical evidence that efficacious PT interventions developed in the US can be transported to Latin American contexts, as long as they are thoroughly adapted to achieve high contextual and cultural relevance. The rates of child maltreatment across LAC countries constitute an urgent and permanent call for strongly promoting this line of prevention research.

Parent Attendance in a Family-Based Preventive Intervention Delivered in Latin America and the United States.

In Latin America, there is an increasing interest in the implementation and dissemination of evidence-based, family-centered interventions to prevent youth behavioral problems. While families' participation in interventions is integral to achieving the interventions' desired impact, little is known about what predicts Latin American families' attendance. The current study provides a unique opportunity to explore the participation of families living in the United States, Ecuador, and Chile in an evidence-based intervention, Familias Unidas. We tested for differences in attendance rates, family functioning variables, and adolescent behavioral problem variables, then applied a hierarchical multiple regression to (a) identify which variables significantly predicted program attendance and (b) assess whether the country in which the intervention was implemented in moderated the relationship between predictors and program attendance. On average, Chilean and Ecuadorian parents were more engaged and attended more sessions than parents living in the United States. Across samples, there was significant differences in family functioning and adolescent behavioral problem variables. However, effective parent-adolescent communication was the only significant predictor of lower program attendance. A significant interaction effect revealed that even though Chilean parents had high parent-adolescent communication, they were more likely to attend sessions, compared to parents living in the United States. We highlight the promise of engaging and retaining families, across U.S. and Latin American samples, into a culturally syntonic, family-based intervention, and discuss potential explanations for success in Chile and Ecuador. Researchers interested in implementing interventions in Latin America could utilize these findings to better target participants and intervention efforts.

Efficacy of a Family-Based Intervention on Parent-Adolescent Discrepancies in Positive Parenting and Substance Use Among Hispanic Youth.

PURPOSE: The research literature shows that discrepancies in positive parenting between parent and adolescent represents maladaptive parent-adolescent relationships, which are in turn positively linked to later substance use in Hispanic youth. However, questions remain about for whom interventions work and by what mechanisms they work to prevent discrepancies in positive parenting. The current study investigated the moderating and mediating roles of positive parenting discrepancy trajectories on the association between condition effect (i.e., a family-based intervention vs. prevention as usual condition) and substance use among Hispanic youth. METHODS: Eigth grade Hispanic adolescents (mean age = 13.86) and their primary caregivers (mean age = 42.32) were randomly assigned to two conditions: Familias Unidas (n = 376) or prevention as usual (n = 370). Participants were assessed at baseline and at 6, 18, and 30 months postbaseline. Using structural equation modeling, moderated mediation analyses were conducted to test whether the relationship between condition and past 90-day substance use at 30 months was mediated by discrepancy trajectories in positive parenting and whether direct and indirect relationships between condition and substance use were moderated by positive parenting discrepancies at baseline. RESULTS: The results showed that, relative to prevention as usual, Familias Unidas reduced positive parenting discrepancies across time, when parent reports were higher than adolescent reports at baseline; this in turn, predicted substance use at 30 months postbaseline. CONCLUSIONS: The findings provide important evidence supporting the need to collect multiple informant reports on positive parenting and examining the directionality of these reports among Hispanic families.