Abstract
The present study investigated how acculturation, acculturative stress, and change in acculturative stress impact parenting practices among 141 Hispanic families randomly assigned to either Culturally Informed and Flexible Family Treatment for Adolescents (CIFFTA) or Individual Treatment As Usual (ITAU). Data were obtained from a parent study investigating the efficacy of CIFFTA vs. ITAU in addressing internalizing and externalizing disorders, and preventing future drug use and risky sexual behavior among 200 at-risk adolescents 11-14 years of age. A series of mixed model ANOVAs were conducted to investigate how Hispanic stress and parenting practices change pre to post-treatment (four months post-baseline), and how acculturation moderates this relationship. Additionally, analyses investigated how categories of parents’ pre to post-treatment change in Hispanic stress (e.g. reliable increase, reliable decrease, or no reliable change) impacts change in parenting practices. Primary analyses showed that less acculturated parents in the CIFFTA condition reported greater improvement in parenting practices pre to post-treatment, while highly acculturated parents in the control condition reported greater improvement in parenting practices. Overall, parents reported a significant decrease in acculturative stress pre to post-treatment, independent of acculturation level or treatment modality. An effect of Hispanic stress trajectory was seen only in the discipline avoidance subscale of parenting practices. Parents who showed reliable decrease in Hispanic stress reported significant improvement in discipline avoidance. Clinical implications are discussed and recommendations are made for further research into acculturation, acculturative stress, and treatment models.