Virtual Positive Parenting Intervention to Promote Filipino Family Wellness: A Randomized Controlled Trial

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Filipino youth living in the United States (US) have significant behavioral health problems, including alarmingly high rates of adolescent depression, anxiety, substance use, and suicidal behavior. Suboptimal parent-child relationships and harsh discipline are critical risk factors for behavioral health problems among youth. Filipino families also face acculturative challenges, parental separation due to immigration, family conflict, parental mental health disorders, and maltreatment. Few, if any prevention programs are available to Filipinos despite their rapid population growth in the US. The Incredible Years® School Age Parent Training Program (IY) is an evidence-based preventive intervention designed to improve parenting skills and parent-child relationships among families with school age youth. As a result of pilot studies funded through a K23 grant from NICHD, a KL2 grant from NCATS, we have demonstrated IY efficacy in improving positive parenting practices and child depression and anxiety symptoms in Filipino families. We have improved the intervention protocol for use online with older children and secured agreements from community agencies to participate in the project. Further research is needed on the effectiveness of online IY, and the impact of engagement (i.e., attendance) on intervention outcomes as well as the barriers and facilitators to implementation by providers in community agencies. Building upon ongoing collaborative research and community awareness-raising within Filipino communities in California, we propose a Type 1 hybrid, individually group randomized treatment trial to compare IY with a usual care control group who will receive IY after 3 months. Specifically, the study seeks to recruit a sample of 250 Filipino parents and children ages 8-12 years through community organizations in California. Participants in both groups will be followed for a minimum of 6 months with assessments that include parent-report and child-report. Our primary objective is to test the effectiveness of online IY on our primary outcomes: parent-reported parenting practices (positive verbal discipline), child-reported child depression and anxiety symptoms, and secondary outcomes: parent-reported physical punishment, parent- reported child internalizing behavior, parent-reported child depression & anxiety symptoms, and parent- and child-reported youth resilience. Our specific aims are: 1) To test the effectiveness of the online Incredible Years® model of parent training and its impact on primary and secondary outcomes; 2) To determine the impact of engagement (i.e., IY attendance) on primary outcomes; and 3) To describe intervention delivery and its online implementation in real-world community settings. We will utilize quantitative and qualitative research methodologies to advance the scientific understanding of parenting interventions during middle childhood. If the approach and intervention format succeed with Filipinos, comparable strategies could be used effectively reach other immigrant or minority populations, many of whom are reluctant to seek preventive parenting programs.