Graduation Year

2024

Document Type

Ed. Specalist

Degree

*Ed.S.

Degree Name

Education Specialist (Ed.S.)

Degree Granting Department

Educational and Psychological Studies

Major Professor

Shannon Suldo, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Sarah Fefer, Ph.D.

Committee Member

John Ferron, Ph.D.

Keywords

Caregiver engagement, Positive Psychology, School-based interventions

Abstract

Latine and Hispanic youth tend to have higher rates of mental health disturbances in school compared to non-Latine youth, yet they are less likely to receive support (Alegría et al., 2008). Additionally, Latine families are more likely to terminate treatment for youth early due to negative stigma, lack of culturally appropriate mental health care, racial and ethnic discrimination, and linguistic and cultural barriers involving care (Kapke & Gerdes, 2016). Best practices in school-based mental health services often involve including caregivers in care (Hoover et al., 2019) as it can benefit outcomes of treatment for the child (Richards et al., 2007). However, research on increasing Latine caregiver engagement in school-based mental health services is sparse, and there are no known studies on Latine caregiver engagement in school-based positive psychology interventions. The Well-Being Promotion Program (WBPP) is a school-based positive psychology intervention that is implemented with the goal of increasing and improving adolescent subjective well-being. The WBPP includes two caregiver components, a caregiver information session and participation in weekly program activities at home with their student. Previous research has looked at caregiver preferences and engagement with the WBPP (Elvy, 2021; Roth et al., 2017); however, there is no existing research on Latine caregiver engagement in the WBPP. Therefore, this study explored Latine caregiver engagement rates in the WBPP after using culturally and linguistically responsive communication practices to invite caregivers to engage with the program, as well as examined Latine caregiver-reported motivators and barriers to participation. The current study analyzed data provided by 394 caregivers (n=199 intervention group, n=195 delayed-intervention control group) enrolled in a study on the effectiveness of the WBPP; and focused on data from 113 Latine caregivers in the sample (n=50 intervention group, n=63 delayed-intervention control group). During the consent process, all 113 Latine caregivers reported preferences with communication methods and interest in attending a caregiver information session. Caregiver preferences expressed by the Latine sample mirrored preferences expressed by the whole sample across all items. Most caregivers preferred text messaging as the primary method of communication during the program, English as the preferred language, morning and evening as the preferred times for the information sessions, and asynchronous as the preferred modality for the information session. Although most Latine caregivers (67%) indicated interest in attending an information session, only 8 of the 50 (16%) Latine caregivers in the intervention group attended an information session. Additionally, although most Latine caregivers reported a preference for an asynchronous session, only two of the eight accessed the pre-recorded video (3 attended an in-person session, and 3 attended synchronous online sessions). In terms of Latine caregiver weekly engagement with program activities, students reported high variability of engagement between caregivers, trending towards some engagement or discussion about the activities. Immediately post-treatment, 33 Latine caregivers from the intervention group completed a survey about motivators and barriers that influenced their participation in the program. This study found that role construction and invitations to involvement (Hoover-Dempsey et al., 2005) played an influential role in motivations and barriers for engagement from Latine caregivers. Future research on Latine caregiver engagement in school-based positive psychology interventions should include qualitative methods to increase knowledge of the intersections of Latine caregivers different identities and how they affect their motivators and barriers to participation and engagement.

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