Parent Education Groups Research Articles

The effects of hypothetical psychological interventions on alcohol use in European young adults

Abstract Background Low psychosocial well-being (PWB) and high emotion-driven impulsiveness (EDI) are associated with alcohol. Yet, it is unclear whether a hypothetical intervention targeting one or the other in adolescence might be more effective in reducing alcohol consumption (AC) in young adulthood. Therefore, we aimed to compare the separate causal effects of PWB and EDI in adolescence on AC in young adulthood. Methods We included 505 European young adults from the IDEFICS/I.Family cohort (mean age: 20.2 years; age range: 18.2-23.5 years) who did not drink alcohol at study entry. AC was operationalized as the amount of weekly consumed alcoholic beverages (mean: 4.2 drinks per week; range: 0.3-70 drinks per week). EDI was assessed using the negative urgency subscale from the UPPS-P Impulsive Behaviour Scale. PWB was assessed using the KINDLR Health-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire. Following the principles of target trial emulation, we estimated, separately, the average causal effects of PWB and EDI on AC accounting for relevant confounders and applying a semi-parametric doubly robust method (targeted maximum likelihood estimation). We stratified the results by sex and parental education. Results If all adolescents, hypothetically, had high levels of PWB, compared to low levels, we estimated a decrease in the average amount of alcoholic beverages in young adulthood by 0.1 drinks per week [95%-confidence interval: -2.3; 2.1]. Furthermore, if all adolescents had low levels of EDI, compared to high levels, we estimated an increase in alcoholic beverages in young adulthood by 1.5 drinks per week [0.1; 2.9]. Different effects for sex and parental education groups were found. Conclusions Hypothetical interventions targeting PWB in adolescents were not found to have effects on reducing AC in young adulthood. Interventions targeting EDI, however, would lead to an increase in AC. This may be due to unmeasured confounding and the missing distinction between drinking motives. Key messages • We demonstrate that causal inference methods, compared to traditional ones, improve the robustness of estimated effect measures and address important sources of bias in European cohort data. • To inform public health interventions on reducing alcohol consumption, future research should investigate different drinking motives, e.g. alleviating negative emotions or enhancing positive emotions.

Social inequality in the association between life transitions into adulthood and depressed mood: a 27-year longitudinal study.

Few studies have considered the life-course development of depressive symptoms in relation to life transitions in early-adulthood and whether these might affect depressive trajectories differently depending on specific indicators of parental socioeconomic status (SES). In the present work, we explore these questions using the adolescent pathway model as a guiding framework to test socially differential exposure, tracking and vulnerability of the effects of life transitions on depressed mood across different socioeconomic backgrounds. Latent growth modeling was used to estimate the associations between indicators of parental SES (parental education and household income) and depressed mood from age 13 to 40 with life transitions (leaving the parental home, leaving the educational system, beginning cohabitation, attaining employment) as pathways between the two. Our analyses were based on a 27-year longitudinal dataset (n = 1242) of a Norwegian cohort with 10 time points in total. To make socioeconomic comparisons, three groups (low, mid, and high) were made for parental education and income respectively. Depressed mood decreased from age 13 to 40. The low and high parental education groups showed a stable difference in depressed mood during early adolescence, which decreased in young adulthood and then increased slightly in mid-adulthood. The low household income group showed higher depressed mood across young adulthood compared to the medium and higher household income groups. For life transitions, leaving the parental home and beginning cohabitation was associated with an added downturn of the trajectory of depressed mood when adjusting for other transitions. However, adolescents with high parental education showed a relatively stronger decrease in depressed mood when leaving the parental home. Similarly, adolescents with a high household income showed a relatively stronger decrease in depressed mood when leaving the educational system. Depressed mood decreased over time and developed differently depending on parental education and household income. Life transitions were generally associated with reductions in depressed mood across time, but lower SES youths were not found to be more socially vulnerable these effects.

Impatience and crime. Evidence from the NLSY97

We empirically test the relationship between crime and impatience at the individual level, exploiting data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97). Besides providing information on violent, property, and drug crimes, NLSY97 allows us to observe different behaviors, sharing impatience as a common latent factor. We use factor analysis to extract this common factor as a measure of impatience. Estimates from a Logit model suggest a positive association between impatience and crime. This relationship differs across violent, property, and drug crimes, but we do not find significant heterogeneities when comparing individuals according to gender, parental education, and ethnic groups. The main result is robust to different factor analysis specifications and controls for risk preferences. Our findings support policies aimed at influencing individual time preferences as an indirect way to combat crime.

The (Un)Predictability of Early (Un)Employment: A Machine Learning Approach

This article integrates scholarship on determinants of labor market transitions with the flexible modeling strategies available through machine learning. Leveraging population registers from Finland, this study analyzes how well we can predict (un)employment and for whom we can (not) predict. The study finds that the predictability of long-term (un)employment improves when using tree-based nonparametric models compared to logistic regression but that predictability varies substantially across outcome groups. None of the models predict very accurately for the unemployed net of baseline likelihood to be unemployed—a group that is well researched and often of interest when designing policies and interventions. Overall accuracy is driven by the employed while incorrectly predicting most of the unemployed. Additionally, the outcomes for individuals with low parental education are overall more difficult to predict than the outcomes for individuals with mid/high parental education, whereas predicting unemployment slightly improves among the low parental education group.

Primary health care midwives’ perceptions on the use of telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain

ObjectiveTo explore the experiences of primary healthcare (PHC) midwives with the implementation of telemedicine in pregnancy and puerperium care during the Covid-19 pandemic. MethodExploratory qualitative study based on an inductive content analysis of 15 semi-structured interviews with intentionally selected PHC midwives in four Spanish Autonomous Regions, during 2021–22. ResultsFive categories were identified: (1) changes in the modality of care in pregnancy and puerperium: prioritization of pregnant women, unprotected puerperium, an increase of home visits and decline of parental education groups, (2) implementation of telemedicine in a changing scenario: the positive and negative side of telemedicine (3) reaction of women to telemedicine (4) strategies implemented by midwives for a humanized care, (5) learning for the future. ConclusionsThe use of telemedicine by primary healthcare midwives enabled the care of pregnant and postpartum women during the pandemic in Spain. The positive aspects of the implementation of this type of care raise possibilities for change towards a hybrid format of healthcare.

Percepciones de matronas de Atención Primaria sobre el uso de la telemedicina durante la pandemia COVID-19 en España

ObjectiveTo explore the experiences of primary healthcare (PHC) midwives with the implementation of telemedicine in pregnancy and puerperium care during the COVID-19 pandemic. MethodExploratory qualitative study based on an inductive content analysis of 15 semi-structured interviews with intentionally selected PHC midwives in four Spanish Autonomous Regions, during 2021-2022. ResultsFive categories were identified: (1)changes in the modality of care in pregnancy and puerperium: prioritization of pregnant women, unprotected puerperium, an increase of home visits and decline of parental education groups; (2)implementation of telemedicine in a changing scenario: the positive and negative side of telemedicine; (3)reaction of women to telemedicine; (4)strategies implemented by midwives for a humanized care, and (5)learning for the future. ConclusionsThe use of telemedicine by primary healthcare midwives enabled the care of pregnant and postpartum women during the pandemic in Spain. The positive aspects of the implementation of this type of care raise possibilities for change towards a hybrid format of healthcare.

Up in smoke? Limited evidence of a smoking harm paradox in 17-year cohort study

BackgroundSocioeconomic differences in the impact of alcohol consumption on health have been consistently reported in the so-called “alcohol harm paradox” (i.e., individuals from higher socioeconomic backgrounds (SES) drink more alcohol than individuals from lower SES, but the latter accrue more alcohol-related harm). Despite the severe health risks of smoking however, there is a scarcity of studies examining a possible “smoking harm paradox” (SHP). We aim to fill this gap.MethodsWe conducted a prospective cohort study with adolescents from the Norwegian Longitudinal Health Behaviour Study (NLHB). Our study used data from ages 13 to 30 years. To analyse our data, we used the random-intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) with smoking and self-reported health as mutual lagged predictors and outcomes as well as parental income and education as grouping variables. Parental income and education were used as proxies for adolescent socioeconomic status (SES). Smoking was examined through frequency of smoking (every day, every week, less than once a week, not at all). General health compared to others was measured by self-report.ResultsOverall, we found inconclusive evidence of the smoking harm paradox, as not all effects from smoking to self-reported health were moderated by SES. Nevertheless, the findings do suggest that smoking predicted worse subjective health over time among individuals in the lower parental education group compared with those in the higher parental education group. This pattern was not found for parental income.ConclusionsWhile our results suggest limited evidence for a smoking harm paradox (SHP), they also suggest that the impact of adolescent smoking on later subjective health is significant for individuals with low parental education but not individuals with high parental education. This effect was not found for parental income, highlighting the potential influence of parental education over income as a determinant of subjective health outcomes in relation to smoking.

The relationship between time spent on social media and adolescent alcohol use: a longitudinal analysis of the UK Millennium Cohort Study.

To estimate the effect of social media use in 14 year olds on risk of and inequalities in alcohol use and binge drinking at 17 years. Using the UK-representative Millennium Cohort Study, the relationship between time spent on social media (assessed using questionnaires [n = 8987] and time-use-diaries [n = 2520]) with frequency of alcohol use in the past month and binge drinking was estimated using adjusted odds ratios (AORs) or adjusted relative risk ratios (ARRRs). Associations within low and high parental education groups were compared to examine effect modification. Analyses accounted for pre-specified confounders, baseline outcome measures (to address reverse causality), sample design, attrition and item-missingness (through multiple imputation). Questionnaire-reported time spent on social media was associated with increased risk of alcohol use and binge drinking in a dose-response manner. Compared to 1-< 30 min/day social media users, 30 min-<1 h/day users were more likely to report alcohol use ≥6 times/month (ARRR 1.62 [95% confidence interval 1.20 to 2.20]) and binge drinking (AOR 1.51 [1.22 to 1.87]), as were 1-<2 h/day users (ARRR 2.61 [1.90 to 3.58]; AOR 2.06 [1.69 to 2.52]) and ≥2 h/day users (ARRR 4.80 [3.65 to 6.32]; AOR 3.07 [2.54 to 3.70]). Social media measured by time-use-diary was associated with higher risks, although not always demonstrating a dose-response relationship. The effect of social media use (vs no-use) on binge drinking was larger in the higher (vs lower) parental education groups. Analyses repeated in complete case samples, and with adjustment for baseline outcome measures revealed consistent findings. Findings suggest social media use may increase risk of alcohol use and binge drinking. Regulatory action protecting adolescents from harmful alcohol-related social media content is necessary.

Study protocol: the pragmatic, exploratory DELTA-JU trial of the group-based multimodal DELTA intervention for abstinent adolescents with substance use disorders living in youth welfare institutions.

The DELTA intervention contains 16 weekly group sessions plus additional individual sessions and educational session for parents. It aims to reduce substance use and related problems such as substance use disorders (SUD) in adolescents. Recent results indicated positive effects in psychiatric outpatients. Conducting DELTA in youth welfare settings seems feasible, however, organizational and content adjustments such as smoking cessation elements should be added in order to reduce relapse risks and to prevent negative health consequences. The pre-registered DELTA-JU study (German Clinical Trials Register, DRKS00027913) is separated into three stages: In the adjustment stage during months 1-4, we will revise the DELTA manual based on semi-structured interviews (n = 10) with personnel from youth welfare institutions specialized in serving adolescents with SUD in the study region, analyzed with content analysis. In the sampling stage during months 5-22, participants qualifying for a SUD and willing to regularly participate in the 16 weekly DELTA-JU group sessions will be enrolled to either one of two arms (cluster randomization: immediate intervention, waitlist with subsequent intervention 16 weeks later). Adolescents will be assessed at baseline and follow-up (16 weeks after first group session) with an additional pre-assessment (16 weeks before intervention starts) for the waitlist group. Assessment procedures include questionnaires and clinical interviews among others. At the same time, institutional personnel will receive a 1-day workshop on SUD-relevant topics based on the DELTA parental education group and on feedback from the qualitative interviews. Personnel will also be assessed twice with questionnaires. In the dissemination stage during months 23-24, final study evaluation results will be prepared and submitted for publication. This study will create a setting-specific manual for vulnerable adolescents suffering from SUDs, and, in many cases, from co-occurring mental disorders. If shown to be effective, DELTA-JU can be disseminated within other institutions of youth welfare.

Developmental changes in the frequency and functions of school-related communication with friends and family across high school: Effects on college enrollment.

As postsecondary education is an increasingly important developmental milestone for adolescents, it is critical to identify supports that help prepare youth for college. Building on evidence highlighting the role of parental input and guidance, the current study investigates how within-person changes in adolescent school-related communication (i.e., frequency of talking about school and educational planning) with friends and family across high school contribute to college preparedness and subsequent enrollment. Capitalizing on a diverse adolescent sample (N = 4,495), longitudinal analyses across high school showed that school-related communication with friends increased, but remained relatively stable with family, from Grades 9-12 (approximately ages 15-18 years). Parallel process latent growth curve modeling demonstrated that steeper increases in school-related communication with friends independently predicted college enrollment, consistently across racial/ethnic and parental education groups. Moreover, within-person changes in friend and family school-related communication across high school interacted in a compensatory fashion to predict grade point average and perceived college readiness at 12th grade. At a time of growing need for independence from parents, the findings highlight the positive developmental function of friends in helping adolescents reach a critical educational milestone. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Mediation of the parental education gradient in early adult mortality by childhood adversity: a population-based cohort study of more than 1 million children

Children born into disadvantaged socioeconomic circumstances are more likely to experience both adversity during childhood and premature mortality. The aim of this study was to investigate how much of the parental education gradient in early adult mortality is explained by exposure to childhood adversity. We used data from the nationwide register-based Danish Life Course cohort study. Our sample consisted of all individuals born between Jan 1, 1980, and Dec 31, 2001, who did not emigrate or die before age 16 years, and for whom information on parental education level was available. These individuals were followed up for mortality from age 16 years until Dec 31, 2018. Highest attained parental education level at birth was divided into low (≤9 years), medium (10-12 years), and high (>12 years) according to years in education. Individuals were assigned to one of five childhood adversity trajectory groups based on their annual exposure between age 0 and 16 years to a broad selection of adversities in three dimensions: material deprivation, loss or threat of loss in the family, and family dynamics. Childhood abuse was not included. The association between parental education level and mortality was assessed with a Cox proportional hazards model. To assess the magnitude of mediation of this association by childhood adversity, we used counterfactual mediation analysis and an Aalen additive hazards model. Analyses were unadjusted and adjusted for parental origin and parental ages at birth. Our sample consisted of 1 278 156 individuals followed up from birth until age 16-38 years. The sample comprised 655 633 (51·3%) men and 622 523 (48·7%) women, and 1 243 981 (97·3%) participants were of European descent. During follow-up, 5387 deaths were registered. Compared with the high parental education group, we calculated a total effect equal to 8·7 additional deaths (95% CI 6·6-10·9) per 100 000 person-years in the medium parental education group and 31·9 (28·5 to 35·2) per 100 000 person-years in the low parental education group. Mediation through childhood adversity trajectories accounted for 41·5% (95% CI 8·0-67·5) of the additional deaths in the medium parental education group and 46·4% (32·9-58·8) of the additional deaths in the low parental education group. The results were similar when adjusting the analyses for sociodemographic factors. The experience of childhood adversity seems to be an important mediator of the association between parental education and mortality in early adulthood. Interventions reducing the exposure to childhood adversity might thus reduce the parental education gradient in early adult mortality. Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development.

Cooperative learning in parental education groups – child healthcare nurses’ views on their work as leaders and on the groups

ABSTRACT New parents are offered parental education groups as a way to support their transition to parenthood. Interactive approaches in these groups are of importance, but studies have reported a lack of activities that support interaction. Cooperative learning is a structured method when working with groups and based on five elements essential to maximizing the cooperative potential of groups. The aim was to investigate the leadership skills of child healthcare nurses as leaders for parental education groups, their ideas about creating conditions for well-functioning groups, and what is required to achieve this. The results were analyzed and discussed using social interdependence theory as a framework and especially the five elements of cooperative learning. Further, the study used a qualitative descriptive design, and eight qualitative interviews were analyzed deductively using thematic analysis. The results showed that in their narratives the nurses display vocational knowledge and describe conditions important for their groups from a cooperative learning perspective. Nevertheless, the results indicate that the nurses had difficulty explicitly instructing parents to use their personal experiences and social skills to get groups to function effectively. Knowledge developed in the workplaces from the experience of leading groups is mostly implicit, and formal knowledge and awareness of leadership is necessary for development of the role.

National Swedish survey showed that child health services and routine immunisation programmes were resilient during the early COVID-19 pandemic.

AimRoutine immunisation programmes are at risk of disruption due to the COVID‐19 pandemic. This study aimed to investigate the resilience of the Swedish national immunisation programme for children up to the age of five years during the early stages of the pandemic.MethodsThis was a cross‐sectional, web‐based survey of regional child health offices in Sweden between 10 September and 9 October 2020. It explored the organisation of child health services during the early stages of the pandemic, focusing on routine child immunisation.ResultsAll 21 Swedish regional child health offices responded. They stated that child immunisation had been prioritised, communication with families had been intensified and there was greater flexibility at all organisational levels of child health services. In addition, the vaccine supply was sustained and child health centres remained open. However, there were periodic staff shortages, increased numbers of health visits cancelled by parents and most parent education groups were paused.ConclusionThe Swedish immunisation programme was resilient during the early COVID‐19 pandemic, thanks to sustainable organisation co‐ordinated by Sweden's network of regional child health offices.

Time spent outdoors in childhood is associated with reduced risk of myopia as an adult

Myopia (near-sightedness) is an important public health issue. Spending more time outdoors can prevent myopia but the long-term association between this exposure and myopia has not been well characterised. We investigated the relationship between time spent outdoors in childhood, adolescence and young adulthood and risk of myopia in young adulthood. The Kidskin Young Adult Myopia Study (KYAMS) was a follow-up of the Kidskin Study, a sun exposure-intervention study of 1776 children aged 6–12 years. Myopia status was assessed in 303 (17.6%) KYAMS participants (aged 25–30 years) and several subjective and objective measures of time spent outdoors were collected in childhood (8–12 years) and adulthood. Index measures of total, childhood and recent time spent outdoors were developed using confirmatory factor analysis. Logistic regression was used to assess the association between a 0.1-unit change in the time outdoor indices and risk of myopia after adjusting for sex, education, outdoor occupation, parental myopia, parental education, ancestry and Kidskin Study intervention group. Spending more time outdoors during childhood was associated with reduced risk of myopia in young adulthood (multivariable odds ratio [OR] 0.82, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.69, 0.98). Spending more time outdoors in later adolescence and young adulthood was associated with reduced risk of late-onset myopia (≥ 15 years of age, multivariable OR 0.79, 95% CI 0.64, 0.98). Spending more time outdoors in both childhood and adolescence was associated with less myopia in young adulthood.

Experiences from leading parental education groups: Perceived difficulties and rewards as an indication of skill acquisition.

Developing skills in a professional setting is linked to practical experience. The relationship between experience and acquisition of skills can be seen as a transition from novice to expert. In a nursing setting, this has been studied using the Dreyfus model of skill acquisition. The aim was to investigate how experience influences midwives’ and child healthcare nurses’ views of difficulties and rewards in working with parental education groups. The study has a cross-sectional design with a mixed methods approach. A total of 437 midwives and child healthcare nurses answered a web-based survey. First, a qualitative analysis was carried out, and then patterns of experience were analysed. The results showed that less experience as a leader corresponds to a greater focus on one’s own role and on personal benefits from working with parents, but not on the specific context of the group. With experience, leaders had a greater focus on the group itself and rewards of making it function well. Not being able to take the current group and the specific context into account when working as a leader reduces possibilities of achieving a well-functioning group and the goals of the parental education.

Experiences of a Mother with Young Children who Participated in a Community-based Parent Education Group

이 연구에서는 영유아기 자녀를 둔 어머니가 지역사회에 기반을 둔 소규모 부모교육에 참여하면서 어떠한 경험을 하며, 그러한 경험이 어머니로서의 삶에 어떤 의미를 주는가를 탐구하였다. 자료 수집은 연구 참여자인 모카가 참여하는 부모교육 모임인 풀씨모임 관찰, 모카와의 대화, 연구자 저널 등을 통해 이루어졌다. 부모교육에 참여하면서 모카는 대화와 토론을 통해 경험을 공유하면서 양육문제를 해결하였고, 부모교육에 남편과 아이와 함께 참여하면서 가족을 더 잘 이해하고 지지하게 되었으며, 강의내용을 실제 양육에서 실천하였다. 또한 부모들의 자발적 모임인 자조모임에서 모카는 주도적으로 모임을 이끌며 개인적 역량을 발휘할 수 있었다. 그러나 모카는 부모교육에서의 교육내용과 자녀가 다니는 어린이집에서의 상담내용이 달라 고충을 겪었으며, 자조모임에 소극적인 부모들과 갈등도 겪었다. 이러한 경험은 모카에게 부모교육에서의 배움을 사회적으로 실천하면서 자신의 행위주체성을 발휘하고, 풀씨모임 부모들과의 관계를 기반으로 성찰적 자아를 구축하는 과정으로서의 의미를 지녔다. 이 연구의 결과는 ‘부모를 위한’ 부모교육 프로그램과 부모교육지도자 양성 프로그램 개발, 부모교육을 위한 정책개발과 실행을 위한 기초자료를 제공해 줄 것이다.

A pilot study of enhanced operation fit: The feasibility of a camp-based health intervention for ethnically diverse families of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Obesity rates are higher in children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (DD) compared to typically developing (TD) children. In TD children, family-based (FB) interventions for obesity are the most effective interventions. Research addressing obesity interventions for children with IDD is limited. We adapted a community-based obesity intervention created for TD children for children with IDD and added a parent education component. The current study examined the feasibility of Enhanced-Operation Fit, a camp-based intervention created in order to reduce weight, and improve health behavior outcomes. Participants were 16 children (68.8% male; Mage =13.15, SDage =1.62) and their parents. Results indicated that incorporating a daily parent education group limited recruitment potential, but showed promising preliminary improvements in parent feeding and child eating behaviors. Health interventions for children with IDD are greatly needed and the current study may be a cost and time-efficient intervention to help address this public health crisis.

Child health care nurses' use of teaching practices and forms of knowledge episteme, techne and phronesis when leading parent education groups.

This study explores child health care nurses' pedagogical knowledge when supporting parents in their parenthood using various teaching practices, that is how to organise and process the content during parent education groups in primary health care. The aim is to identify teaching practices used by child health care nurses and to analyse such practices with regard to Aristotle's three forms of knowledge to comprehensively examine child health care nurses' use of knowledge in practice. A qualitative methodological design alongside the analysis of video-recordings was used. The results showed that child health care nurses used four teaching practices: lecturing, demonstration, conversation and supervision. Their use of episteme was prominent, but they also seemed to master techne in combination with episteme during the first three teaching practices. During the conversation teaching practice, the child health nurses rarely succeeded. Consequently, they missed opportunities to identify mothers' expressed concerns and to act in the best interests of both the mothers and their infants by the use of phronesis. In health care, however, theoretical episteme is superordinate to productive knowledge or phronesis, which also became evident in this study. Nevertheless, more interactive pedagogical practices are needed if more use of phronesis is to become a reality in parent education groups.

Keeping Children Safe parent education programme: improving access to parent education in the context of child protection

AbstractThis article reports on an evaluation of the Keeping Children Safe parent education programme run in Central West New South Wales. The programme, conducted since 2004, and continuing today, primarily targets parents of children at risk and other vulnerable and disadvantaged families. The evaluation covers a 13-year period, from the first group held in May 2004 to February 2017. From the beginning, the authors strategically endeavoured to recruit and retain parents from the target group. Findings from the literature indicate that this group is difficult to engage and retain in parent education groups. Parents targeted for the groups in this study were generally not receiving parent education elsewhere. Using mixed methods, the facilitators have continuously evaluated the programme in terms of attendance rates, process and impact. The results of these evaluations show successful recruitment and retention of participants from the target group over the 13 years of the evaluation reporting period and indicate that the programme’s immediate impact on participants has been favourable. The findings complement other programme evaluations focusing on recruitment and retention to programmes in the child protection context and on hard-to-reach clients. The authors also argue the importance of education for parents about child abuse and neglect.

International Migrants, Family Literacy and Pact

The purpose of this study is to examine the components of a family literacy program that brought international migrants into Primary Classrooms in the Rocky Mountain Region in the US. The literacy program included four components: 1) Children's Education of direct child instruction of literacy and language skills; 2) Adult Education of parent instruction of English as Second Language (ESL); 3) Parent Time of parent education and support group; and 4) Parent and Child Together Time (PACTT), where the parents get to be an interactive part of their child’s classroom with the teacher present. PACTT is a unique opportunity in facilitating cultural integration and parental engagement, while providing participants opportunity to observe first-hand the reality of education in the United States as well as being active ELLs. Drawing on multiple social and educational theories and research, data from interviews, observation, and focus group yielded data that contributes a more inclusive discourse and new knowledge to the educational community regarding international migrants and their dreams and hopes for the success of their children.