Abstract
This pilot study examined the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary outcomes of a linguistically and culturally adapted intervention for immigrant Latina mothers with depression and their families. Fortalezas Familiares (Family Strengths) is a community-based, 12-week, multifamily group intervention that aims to increase communication about family processes leading up to and affected by the mother's depression, build child coping and efficacy, enhance parenting competence and skills, and promote cultural and social assets within the family. In terms of feasibility, of 16 families who enrolled and participated in the intervention, 13 families attended more than 90% of meetings and completed the intervention. Posttests reported positive changes following the intervention, including improved psychological functioning, increased family and marital support, and enhanced family functioning, as reported by mothers and other caregivers. Mothers also reported decreased conduct and hyperactivity problems among their children. Children reported positive changes in their psychological functioning and coping, parenting warmth and acceptance, and overall family functioning. Postintervention focus groups and surveys measuring acceptability revealed families' satisfaction with the intervention and suggested areas of improvement. We discuss similarities and differences in outcomes between the adapted intervention, Fortalezas Familiares, and the original intervention, Keeping Families Strong, and propose future areas of intervention adaptation and development.
Highlights
This pilot study examined the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary outcomes of a linguistically- and culturally-adapted intervention for immigrant Latina mothers with depression and their families
Researchers have made great strides in developing family interventions to address the needs of children and parents in the context of family stress and maternal depression, these interventions have primarily focused on White populations, thereby limiting their generalizability to ethnic minorities such as Latinos
In a previous issue of this journal, we described the theoretical rationale and components of Fortalezas Familiares (Family Strengths), a community-based family intervention for low-income Latina immigrant mothers and their families (Valdez et al, in press)
Summary
This pilot study examined the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary outcomes of a linguistically- and culturally-adapted intervention for immigrant Latina mothers with depression and their families. Negative changes in family communication, nurturance, activities and routines, and cohesion have been documented as both contributing to maternal depression and being exacerbated by it (Valdez, Abegglen, & Hauser, in press) These changes have been associated with long-term negative outcomes in children, including impairments in their mental health, physical health, and social and occupational functioning (Riley et al, 2008; Weissman et al, 2006). Latinos have been understudied in the maternal depression literature, despite research showing that Latina immigrant women appear to experience stressful sociocultural processes such as significant interpersonal losses and coping difficulties due to family separation and absence of usual support systems, isolation, and acculturative stressors affecting marital and parent-child relationships (Busch, Bohon, & Kim, 2010; Heilemann, Coffey-Love, & Frutos, 2004). Interventions designed to build resilience in Latino youth and families are essential in light of the multiple risks they face in U.S society and in their home environments
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