Examining the impact of differential cultural adaptation with Latina/o immigrants exposed to adapted parenting training interventions

Objective: There is a dearth of empirical studies aimed at examining the impact of differential cultural
adaptation of evidence-based clinical and prevention interventions. This prevention study consisted of a
randomized controlled trial aimed at comparing the impact of 2 differentially culturally adapted versions
of the evidence-based parenting intervention known as Parent Management Training, the Oregon Model
(PMTOR). Method: The sample consisted of 103 Latina/o immigrant families (190 individual parents).
Each family was allocated to 1 of 3 conditions: (a) a culturally adapted PMTO (CA), (b) culturally
adapted and enhanced PMTO (CE), and (c) a wait-list control. Measurements were implemented at
baseline (T1), treatment completion (T2) and 6-month follow up (T3). Results: Multilevel growth
modeling analyses indicated statistically significant improvements on parenting skills for fathers and
mothers (main effect) at 6-month follow-up in both adapted interventions, when compared with the
control condition. With regard to parent-reported child behaviors, child internalizing behaviors were
significantly lower for both parents in the CE intervention (main effect), compared with control at
6-month follow-up. No main effect was found for child externalizing behaviors. However, a Parent
Condition effect was found indicating a significant reduction of child externalizing behaviors for CE
fathers compared with CA and control fathers at posttest and 6-month follow-up. Conclusion: Present
findings indicate the value of differential cultural adaptation research designs and the importance of
examining effects for both mothers and fathers, particularly when culturally focused and gender variables
are considered for intervention design and implementation.