Effects of Parenting Programs on Latina Mothers’ Parental Stress and Their Children’s Internalizing Behavioral Problems

Abstract

This pilot study examined the comparative effects of two empirically supported, manualized parenting programs, Child Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) and Systematic Training for Effective Parenting (STEP), with low-income, immigrant Latina mothers reporting high levels of parental stress and child internalizing problems. Findings from a 2 (group) × 2 (times) repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that, compared to STEP, CPRT demonstrated a medium to large treatment effect (ηp2 = .117) on children’s internalizing problems, although between group differences were not statistically significant. Results for parental stress indicated no statistically or practically significant between-group differences. Within-group treatment effects revealed larger effects for the CPRT group for internalizing behavior problems (CPRT, d = 2.51; STEP, d = 0.73) and parental stress (CPRT, d = 1.29; STEP, d = 0.82). Clinical significance of the findings indicated greater improvement for children and mothers in the CPRT group.