A Culturally Adapted Intervention for Mexican‐Origin Parents of Adolescents: The Need to Overtly Address Culture and Discrimination in Evidence‐Based Practice

• Author: Melanie M. Domenech Rodríguez,Efraín Zamudio,Silvia Gisela Leija,Monica Villa,Hsueh‐Han Yeh,Rubén Parra‐Cardona,Gabriela López‐Zerón,Melecia Arredondo,Megan K. Maas
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12381
• Published date: 01 June 2019
• Date: 01 June 2019

A Culturally Adapted Intervention for Mexican-Origin

Parents of Adolescents: The Need to Overtly

Address Culture and Discrimination in

Evidence-Based Practice

RUB

EN PARRA-CARDONA*

GABRIELA L 

OPEZ-ZER 

ON

†

SILVIA GISELA LEIJA

†

MEGAN K. MAAS

†

MONICA VILLA

†

EFRA

IN ZAMUDIO

†

MELECIA ARREDONDO

†

HSUEH-HAN YEH

†

MELANIE M. DOMENECH RODR

IGUEZ

‡

Latino/a populations in the United States are negatively impacted by widespread men-

tal health disparities. Although the dissemination of culturally relevant parent training

(PT) programs constitutes an alternative to address this problem, there is a limited number

of efficacious culturally adapted PT prevention interventions for low-income Latino/a

immigrant families with adolescents. The current manuscript describes the level of accept-

ability of a version of the GenerationPMTO

â

intervention adapted for Latino/a immigrant

families, with an explicit focus on immigration-related challenges, discrimination, and

promotion of biculturalism. Qualitative reports were provided by 39 immigrant parents

who successfully completed the prevention parenting program. The majority of these par-

ents self-identified as Mexican-origin. According to qualitative findings, participants

reported overall high satisfaction with immigration and culture-specific components. Par-

ents also expressed high satisfaction with the core GenerationPMTO parenting componen ts

and provided specific recommendations for improving the intervention. Current findings

indicate the need to adhere to the core components that account for the effectiveness of PT

interventions. Equally important is to thoroughly adapt PT interventions according to the

cultural values and experiences that are relevant to target populations, as well as to overtly

To read this article in Spanish, please see the article’s Supporting Information on Wiley Online Library

(https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15455300).

*The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.

†

Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.

‡

Utah State University, Logan, UT.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Rub

en Parra-Cardona, Steve Hicks

School of Social Work, The University of Texas at Austin, 1925 San Jacinto Boulevard, Austin, TX 78712.

E-mail: rparra@austin.utexas.edu.

The first author would like to express his deep gratitude to James C. Anthony, Ph.D., Department of

Epidemiology at Michigan State University, who has served as his NIDA K01 primary sponsor. We also

would like to sincerely thank Marion Forgatch, ISII Executive Director, and Laura Rains, ISII Director of

Implementation and Training, for their resolved and continuous support as we have engaged in dissemina-

tion efforts with underserved populations in the U.S. The study was supported by funds from the National

Institute on Drug Abuse grants K01DA036747 (to JRPC), K05DA015799 and T32DA021129 (to JCA). The

content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of

the National Institute of Mental Health or the National Institutes of Health. The support from our commu-

nity partner, Holy Redeemer Parish, was essential for the success of this project.

334

Family Process, Vol. 58, No. 2, 2019 ©2018 Family Process Institute

doi: 10.1111/famp.12381

address experiences of discrimination that negatively impact underserved Mexican-origin

immigrant families. Due to the exploratory nature of this study, the efficacy and effective-

ness of the adapted prevention intervention remains to be established in empirical research.

Keywords: Mexican-Origin; Cultural Adaptation; Evidence-Based Interventions; Parent

Training; GenerationPMTO

Fam Proc 58:334–352, 2019

Latino/a populations in the United States (US) are negatively impacted by widespread

mental health disparities (SAMHSA, 2015). Empirical research indicates that specific

mental health disparities are particularly deleterious for Latino/a immigrant communities

and include limited access to culturally relevant mental health services, fear of discrimi -

nation, and residence in geographical areas with limited federally sponsored mental

health care coverage for low-income populations (L^

e Cook et al., 2016; Park, Wang, Wil-

liams, & Alegr

ıa, 2017).

In response to these challenges, exemplar culturally relevant family-based prevention

programs have been developed to benefit low-income Latino/a populations (Gonzales

et al., 2012; Hecht et al., 2003; Kumpfer & Alvarado, 2003; Martinez & Eddy, 2005; Prado

et al., 2007; Smokowski, David-Ferdon, & Bacallao, 2009). However, the dissemination of

this type of interventions continues to be limited among underserved Latino/a immigrant

communities throughout the United States (SAMHSA, 2015).

Meta-analytic data indicate that interventions informed according to parent training

(PT) principles constitute the gold standard for addressing a variety of externalizing prob-

lematic behaviors in children and youth such as rule breaking or defiant behaviors

(Michelson, Davenport, Dretzke, Barlow, & Day, 2013). An increasing body of evidence

also indicates the positive effects of PT interventions on youth internalizing problems

(Perrino et al., 2014). However, the availability of efficacious culturally adapted PT pre-

vention interventions for low-income Latino/a families with adolescents continues to be

scarce (Gerdes, Kapke, Lawton, Grace, & Hurtado, 2015; Gonzales et al., 2012).

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This qualitative investigation is embedded within a randomized prevention controlled

trial aimed at empirically testing the implementation feasibility and initial efficacy of a

culturally adapted preventative parenting intervention for low-income Latino/a immi-

grant families with adolescents. This study is relevant as according to princi ples of com-

munity-based participatory research (Castro, Barrera, & Holleran Steiker, 2010), there is

a need to confirm that interventions offered in communities adequately address the needs

expressed by target populations. Thus, if the adapted intervention is found to be culturally

relevant and efficacious, the subsequent goal will be to launch a long-term program of

implementation science research, aimed at achieving the large-scale dissemina tion and

long-term sustainability of the adapted intervention in low-income Latino/a immigrant

communities in the southern United States.

Within the larger scope of this program of research, the specific objective of this qualita-

tive study was to assess the level of cultural relevance and overall acceptability of a ver-

sion of the GenerationPMTO

â

intervention adapted for Latino/a immigrant families, with

an explicit focus on immigration-related challenges, discrimination, and promotion of

biculturalism. The GenerationPMTO intervention has been found to be efficacious in mul-

tiple randomized controlled trials, including a rigorous prevention trial with

Fam. Proc., Vol. 58, June, 2019

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