Citation

Martin CG, Fisher PA, Kim HK. Prev. Sci. 2011; 13(1): 64-74.

Affiliation

University of Oregon and Oregon Social Learning Center , 1227 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 97403-1227, USA, gamachem@uoregon.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s11121-011-0247-0

PMID

21935658

Abstract

Child maltreatment prevention programs typically identify at-risk families by screening for risk with limited consideration of how risk might vary by ethnicity. In this study, longitudinal data from mothers who participated in a randomized clinical trial of a home-visitation, child maltreatment prevention program (N = 262) were examined to determine whether risk for harsh parenting differed among mothers who identified themselves as Spanish-speaking Latinas (n = 64), English-speaking Latinas (n = 102), or non-Latina Caucasians (n = 96). The majority of the participants were first-time mothers (58.4%), and the average age of all participants was 23.55 years (SD = 6.04). At the time of their infants' births, the Spanish-speaking Latina mothers demonstrated higher SES risk, whereas the English-speaking Latina and non-Latina Caucasian mothers demonstrated higher psychosocial risk. Three years later, the English-speaking Latina and non-Latina Caucasian mothers reported harsher parenting behaviors than the Spanish-speaking Latina mothers. The need for prevention programs to consider how risk and protective factors differ by ethnic group membership when identifying at-risk mothers is discussed.

Language: en