Parent Training with African American Parents

Abstract

One of the ways in which conduct problems are treated is parent training (Bagner & Eyberg, 2007). Parent training has been primarily designed with Caucasian middle-class parents (Kerig, 2001). Therefore, it may be beneficial to develop a culturally sensitive parent training for African American parents. Participants were parents/guardians of children ages four to eight. A six-part survey assessed demographic information, parents’ use and views of parenting practices taught in standard parent training, parents’ use and views of racial socialization practices, the saliency of incentives, barriers to treatment, program preferences, and racial identity. Results suggest that certain topics currently taught in parent training, such as time out and planned ignoring, may not be as relevant to African American parents. Additionally, the findings support that African American parents value racial socialization practices. Thus, incorporating them into parent training may be beneficial. The results also emphasize the importance of selecting a convenient location, such as a place of worship or community center. Participants also reported a preference for group formats. Further findings related to designing a culturally sensitive parent training for African American parents are discussed along with limitations and future directions for research.