Parent training for immigrant Latina mothers: a randomized controlled trial of the Madres a Madres program

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Madres a Madres (Mothers to Mothers), a newly developed parent training program designed for low-income immigrant Latina mothers and their children. Promotoras, or female lay community health workers of Latina background, delivered the Madres a Madres program in a home visitation format. A total of 194 mothers and 194 focal children (87 male, 107 female) ages 7 to 12 were randomized to the intervention (113 mother-child dyads) or wait-list control condition (81 mother-child dyads) over the three-year study period. Primary outcomes of interest were mother-reported parenting skills and deviant beliefs. Secondary outcomes were mother-reported child internalizing and externalizing behavior, as well as child-reported child deviant beliefs, aggressive behavior, and social competencies. Mother and child data collection occurred at pretest, 3-month posttest, and 9-month follow-up periods. Multilevel linear and non-linear growth models revealed increases in intervention mothers' parenting skills, marginal reductions in intervention mothers' deviant beliefs, and reductions in intervention children's internalizing behavior over the three time points, relative to the control condition. Findings are discussed in the context of future directions for research on the Madres a Madres program and on the implementation and dissemination of evidence-based parent training programs to low-income, culturally diverse families.