Cultural adaptation of a parenting intervention for parents in multi-ethnic disadvantaged neighborhoods : contextualised content in a built-in module

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation

is to explore what adaptations are needed to improve the fit of a parenting

intervention for use in multi-ethnic disadvantaged neighborhoods. A bottom-up

approach is used to assess parents’ perspectives regarding their parenting experiences, and to identify their needs and stressors. Data is collected among parents with an ethnic minority and low socioeconomic status background. Each chapter is a part of a stepwise approach that led to the selection of an intervention, and its adaptation for and evaluation in a multi-ethnic disadvantaged neighbourhood. It was found that a focus on coping strategies to handle stress and unhelpful emotions is not a standard theme in parenting interventions, while this would be beneficial for ethnic minority and low SES parents. The intervention module ‘Coping with stress and unhelpful emotions’ was developed to be incorporated into an existing parenting intervention to assist parents in handling their emotions and decreasing the impact of stress, and simultaneously regulating their parenting behavior. An evaluation study showed the relevance of this in-built module for parents living in multi-ethnic disadvantaged neighborhoods and also yielded recommendations to further improve the module.