Exploring African American and Latino Populations Perceptions of Parenting Education Programs: A Qualitative Assessment of Enablers and Barriers

Drissa M. Toure, Rajvi J. Wani, Kandy Do, Dejun Su

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

Parenting education programs aim to enhance the quality of parenting. Preferences vary between African American and Latino parents, but the context is not well known, and the ethnic/racial differences may have implications for parenting education programs. Focus groups were conducted with seven African American and eight Latino parents, and semi-structured interviews with eight key informants. This qualitative assessment provided information to identify barriers and enablers to participation in parenting education programs. Enablers included parental interest in learning about the developmental stages of their children, the convenience of locations and times, and incentives. Minority parents desired to obtain adequate parenting education. The scarcity of culturally sensitive programs, transportation, affordability, and childcare were significant barriers. There were both significant similarities and differences between the two parent groups. From the perspectives of African American, Latino parents and key informants, a range of resources are necessary to enable the participation and the delivery of high-quality parenting education. The findings from our research will help address the unmet parenting education needs of African American and Latino parents. Future research should work to develop a tailored and culturally sensitive parenting education programs to reduce the divergence between parents and service providers.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)256-263
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Social Service Research
Volume46
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 3 2020

Keywords

  • African American
  • Latino
  • barriers
  • enablers
  • parenting education programs
  • racial and ethnic disparities

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
  • Sociology and Political Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Exploring African American and Latino Populations Perceptions of Parenting Education Programs: A Qualitative Assessment of Enablers and Barriers'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this