Cultural Diversity: A Wake-Up Call for Parent Training

The United States is becoming increasingly culturally diverse. As a consequence, behavior therapists who utilize parent training as a therapeutic intervention for child behavior problems will likely encounter clients from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Unfortunately, the influence of cultural values on parenting behavior has been ignored in behavior therapy research. We examine the cultural context of parenting for four ethnic groups, consider the influence of cultural factors on parent training, and propose new research questions to be addressed by behavior therapists in the near future.