Efficacy of the Chicago Parent Program with Low-Income African American and Latino Parents of Young Children

This study tested the efficacy of a 12-session parent training program, the Chicago Parent Program (CPP), which was developed in collaboration with African American and Latino parents. Using growth curve modeling, data were analyzed from 253 parents (58.9% African American, 32.8% Latino) of 2-4 year old children enrolled in seven day care centers serving low-income families. Day care centers were matched and randomly assigned to intervention and waiting-list control conditions. At 1-year follow-up, intervention group parents used less corporal punishment and issued fewer commands with their children. Intervention children exhibited fewer behavior problems during observed play and clean-up sessions than controls. Additional group differences were observed when dose was included in the analytic model. Parents who participated in at least 50% of CPP sessions also reported greater improvements in parenting self-efficacy, more consistent discipline, greater warmth, and a decline in child behavior problems when compared to reports from controls. The implications of these results for preventive parent training with low-income African American and Latino parents and the role of intervention dose on parent-child outcomes are discussed.