Hispanic Mothers' Experiences with School-Based Emotional Health Curriculum and Perspectives of Their Own Mental Health Needs

ABSTRACT

An Emotional Health Curriculum (EHC) was developed to promote positive mental health in primarily Hispanic elementary school-aged children. In order to further expand the EHC, the mothers' experiences with the curriculum were examined. Eighteen mothers participated in two focus groups. Mothers reported that they valued this curriculum as a preventive program. Importantly, all mothers wished to extend their involvement to not only assisting their child in completing the curriculum homework but also attending a proposed parenting program. This study provides preliminary evidence that mothers embraced the EHC as an accessible community mental health service for their children and sought greater involvement.

Acknowledgments

This study was funded by University of California Irvine Institute for Clinical and Translational Sciences Campus-Community Research Pilot Grant (NIH: IU54RR031271), and Health Resources and Services Administration Grant (HRSA: D11HP22200). We would like to acknowledge the mothers who participated in this study for their support. We thank Fabiola Movius for facilitating the focus groups.