Feasibility, acceptability and preliminary outcomes of implementing a family-based intervention Your Family, Your Neighborhood with Latinx immigrant families

Abstract

School-based parent involvement is associated with child academic outcomes, positive behaviors, and social skills. However, schools often struggle to engage low-income, Latinx immigrant, Spanish-speaking parents and are tasked with finding new and creative ways to involve these parents. Despite the need to engage this diverse group of parents, culturally and linguistically responsive programs to engage parents are limited. This study sought to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary outcomes of a family-based intervention—Your Family, Your Neighborhood (YFYN)—with Latinx immigrant Spanish-speaking families. YFYN is an empirically supported, dual-generation, in-person, manualized curriculum that supports and strengthens bonds between parents and their children while fostering neighborhood social cohesion among families living in low-income communities and project-based subsidized housing. Parent-child dyads (N = 15) residing in a mid-sized city within a southwestern state participated in the YFYN intervention. Participating families attended 10 two-hour skills-based curriculum sessions during which they gathered for a community dinner and participated in parent- and child-specific skills-based groups (e.g., learning skills such as parent–child communication, school engagement strategies, positive youth development and leadership, and community strengths and challenges through photovoice). Intervention feasibility and acceptability were evaluated based on parent attendance (parents attended a mean of 8.39 out of 10 sessions), attrition rates and qualitative post-participation focus groups. Parents demonstrated a statistically significant change in parent–child relationships from pre-assessment to post-assessment and positive trends for participation in school activities, positive child behavior and community connections. Findings from this study reveal that the YFYN intervention is feasible and highly acceptable with Spanish-speaking Latinx immigrant families, demonstrated by high session attendance and low attrition. Focus groups with parent participants indicated improvements in their parent–child relationships, changes in participants’ perspectives of their impact on their child’s education and the development of new connections with other YFYN parent participants. This study offers preliminary findings regarding the effects of the YFYN intervention among Latinx families living in low-income neighborhoods. Future directions for engaging Spanish-speaking Latinx immigrant families in schools are discussed.