Perceptions of the Acceptability of Parent Training Among Chinese Immigrant Parents: Contributions of Cultural Factors and Clinical Need

• Published in: Behavior therapy Vol. 43; no. 2; pp. 436 - 449
• Main Authors: Ho, Judy, Yeh, May, McCabe, Kristen, Lau, Anna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2012; Elsevier; Academic Press
• Subjects: Acceptability; Acculturation; Adolescent; Adolescents; Adult; Age; Asian Continental Ancestry Group - psychology; Behavior; Behavior therapy; Behavior therapy. Cognitive therapy; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child care; Child Psychology; Child Rearing; Child Rearing - ethnology; Child Safety; Child, Preschool; Children; Chinese Americans; Chinese immigrant parents; Cultural aspects; Cultural Differences; Cultural Influences; Culture; Emigrants and Immigrants - psychology; Female; Humans; Immigrants; Male; Medical sciences; Mental disorders; Mental Health; Mental health care; Mental health services; Middle Aged; Noncitizens; Parent Child Relationship; parent training; Parent-Child Relations; Parenthood education; Parenting Styles; Parents; Parents & parenting; Parents - education; Perception; Perceptions; Positive Reinforcement; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Punishment; Reinforcement; Social Sciences; Stress, Psychological - ethnology; Stress, Psychological - psychology; Therapy; Training; treatment acceptability; treatment engagement; Treatments; United States - ethnology; United States; China; parent training; treatment acceptability; Chinese immigrant parents; treatment engagement; Social environment; Human; Treatment; Parent training; Immigrant; Parent; Cultural environment; Chinese; Perception; Behavior therapy
• ISSN: 0005-7894; 1878-1888
• DOI: 10.1016/j.beth.2011.10.004

Abstract Parent training (PT) is well established for reducing child externalizing problems; however, lower rates of engagement in PT among ethnic minority/immigrant families have been found. We assessed PT acceptability among Chinese immigrant parents and explored clinical and cultural factors that may be associated with acceptability. Participants were a community sample of 145 Chinese immigrant parents (84% mothers) between the ages of 32 and 65 years ( M = 43.3 years, SD = 6.2) who had children (84 boys, 59 girls) between the ages of 4 and 17 years ( M = 10.7 years, SD = 3.6). Results suggest that parents found positive reinforcement techniques significantly more acceptable, less problematic, and more likely to be supported by others than punishment-based techniques. Parents who endorsed the Chinese child-rearing value of shaming were less likely to find PT acceptable. Parents who reported greater dysfunction in parent–child interactions rated PT as more acceptable, and families with prior Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement rated PT as less acceptable. However, previous mental health treatment appears to bolster acceptability among parents with prior CPS involvement. Clinical implications for addressing barriers to PT engagement and future research directions are discussed.