TY - JOUR PY - 2019// TI - Parent education for migrant mothers of left-behind children in China: a pilot randomized controlled trial JO - Family Process A1 - To, Siu-Ming A1 - Kwok, Ching-Man A1 - So, Yuk-Yan A1 - Yan, Ming-Wai SP - 318 EP - 333 VL - 58 IS - 2 N2 - Although numerous studies have indicated the significance of parental support and parent-child communication in alleviating the adverse effects of parental departure on left-behind children, researchers have rarely addressed the impact of parent education on migrant parents. On the basis of the results of a pilot randomized controlled trial, the study reported here involved examining the possible outcomes and feasibility of a parent education program for rural-to-urban migrant mothers of left-behind children in China. Informed by an existential-narrative approach to parent education, the program was composed of six 2.5-hour sessions. The sample included 56 migrant mothers recruited from a social service center in Shenzhen, China, who were randomly assigned to either the immediate group (n = 28, M = 34.82 years, SD = 4.12, aged 23-43) or the waitlist control group (n = 28, M = 34.68 years, SD = 4.53, aged 28-43). The hypotheses of the trial were twofold: that the program would positively affect participants' parental identity and that it would improve mother-child relationships and parenting practices. The results revealed no significant difference in parental identity between the intervention group and the waitlist control group at the post-test assessment after ruling out the effects of pretest survey scores. However, significant differences did emerge in parent-child relationships and parenting practices. Overall, the results corroborate the feasibility of examining the current program for migrant mothers in China in a full trial. The findings also offer insights into developing empirically supported parent education programs for migrant parents.

© 2018 Family Process Institute.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0014-7370 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/famp.12369 ID - ref1 ER -