Engaging Mexican origin families in a school-based preventive intervention.
This study describes a culturally sensitive approach to engage Mexican origin families in a school-based, family-focused preventive intervention trial. The approach was evaluated via assessing study enrollment and intervention program participation, as well as examining predictors of engagement at each stage. Incorporating traditional cultural values into all aspects of engagement resulted in participation rates higher than reported rates of minority-focused trials not emphasizing cultural sensitivity. Family preferred language (English or Spanish) or acculturation status predicted engagement at all levels, with less acculturated families participating at higher rates. Spanish-language families with less acculturated adolescents participated at higher rates than Spanish-language families with more acculturated adolescents. Other findings included two-way interactions between family language and the target child's familism values, family single- vs. dual-parent status, and number of hours the primary parent worked in predicting intervention participation. EDITORS' STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS: The authors present a promising approach-which requires replication-to engaging and retaining Mexican American families in a school-based prevention program. The research also highlights the importance of considering acculturation status when implementing and studying culturally tailored aspects of prevention models.
Dillman Carpentier
Francesca R
FR
School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Carroll Hall, Campus Box 3365, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3365, USA. francesca@unc.edu
Mauricio
Anne M
AM
Gonzales
Nancy A
NA
Millsap
Roger E
RE
Meza
Connie M
CM
Dumka
Larry E
LE
Germán
Miguelina
M
Genalo
M Toni
MT
D000069:Acculturation; D000293:Adolescent; D001130:Arizona; D002648:Child; D003144:Communication Barriers; D005196:Family Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000523:psychology; D008800:Mexico / Q000208:ethnology; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology*; D012572:School Health Services