Exploring African American and Latino Populations Perceptions of Parenting Education Programs: A Qualitative Assessment of Enablers and Barriers

Abstract

Parenting education programs aim to enhance the quality of parenting. Preferences vary between African American and Latino parents, but the context is not well known, and the ethnic/racial differences may have implications for parenting education programs. Focus groups were conducted with seven African American and eight Latino parents, and semi-structured interviews with eight key informants. This qualitative assessment provided information to identify barriers and enablers to participation in parenting education programs. Enablers included parental interest in learning about the developmental stages of their children, the convenience of locations and times, and incentives. Minority parents desired to obtain adequate parenting education. The scarcity of culturally sensitive programs, transportation, affordability, and childcare were significant barriers. There were both significant similarities and differences between the two parent groups. From the perspectives of African American, Latino parents and key informants, a range of resources are necessary to enable the participation and the delivery of high-quality parenting education. The findings from our research will help address the unmet parenting education needs of African American and Latino parents. Future research should work to develop a tailored and culturally sensitive parenting education programs to reduce the divergence between parents and service providers.

Keywords:

• African American
• barriers
• enablers
• Latino
• parenting education programs
• racial and ethnic disparities

Acknowledgements

We thank the participants of the study who shared their thoughts and the Center for Reducing Health Disparities staff for their help and contribution to the project.

Disclosure Statement

All authors report no financial interest and no conflict of interest with respect to the content of the present manuscript.

Funding

We would like to acknowledge that the parenting education project was funded by the Nebraska DHHS Maternal Child Adolescent Health through a contractual agreement between Nebraska DHHS and University of Nebraska Medical Center, College of Public Health, Center for Reducing Health Disparities. Views and opinions expressed in this study do not necessarily reflect those of the funding agency.