Parenting in 2 Worlds: pilot results from a culturally adapted parenting program for urban American Indians

This study reports the implementation and feasibility of a culturally adapted parenting curriculum, Parenting in 2 Worlds (P2W), which we designed specifically for urban American Indian families by means of community-based participatory research and then pilot tested in three Arizona cities. Data come from matched pre- and post-test surveys completed in 2012 by 75 American Indian parents of adolescents aged 10-17 who participated in the pilot version of P2W. P2W is a 10-workshop program administered twice a week for 5 weeks by trained American Indian community facilitators. Parents completed pre-test surveys during Workshop 1 and post-test surveys 5 weeks later during Workshop 10. Paired t tests assessed changes in parenting outcomes, cultural identity, and child anti-social behavior. Changes from pre- to post-test demonstrated statistically significant improvements in several parenting outcomes (discipline, involvement, self-agency, and supervision), a strengthened sense of ethnic and cultural identity and Native spirituality, and a decrease in the child's anti-social behavior. These results, which show significant preliminary improvements in parenting skills and family functioning, suggest the feasibility of implementing a culturally grounded parenting intervention for urban American Indian parents.