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Learning Objective 1: To describe the implementation and evaluation of an office-based videotaped (DVD) parenting skills intervention designed to improve maternal confidence of Latina mothers raising toddlers.
Learning Objective 2: To determine the impact of a parenting skills intervention on the social-emotional development of toddlers.
Theoretical Framework: Mothers, raising toddlers, are often frustrated by toddler behaviors. Watson’s theory of caring was used as the theoretical model for the development of the educational strategies to foster maternal confidence. It was believed that the toddler who is ‘embraced’ by the mother, regardless of the toddlers presenting behavior, will develop an emotional, mutually reciprocal connecting relationship with the mother.
Methods: A pre-test post-test experimental design was used. Data for 63 Latina mothers and their toddlers were analyzed. All participants were randomly assigned to either the treatment or control group when they entered the study. Settings included four pediatric primary care offices in urban and suburban areas. Mothers in the treatment and control groups completed the same pre-test and post-test instruments, the Toddler Care Questionnaire (TCQ), which measures maternal confidence. The Brigance Toddler Screen was administered to each toddler as a pre-test and post-test measure of the social-emotional development. Changes in pre-test and post-test scores were calculated separately for the mothers and the toddlers using paired t-test.
Results: The results revealed a visit effect: an improvement in maternal confidence in both treatment and control group scores for Latina mothers with a statistical significance p = 0.002 when comparing visit 1 scores to visit 2. The Latina toddlers in the treatment group showed a 30% increase on the Brigance Toddler Screen from visit 1 scores to visit 2 scores.
Conclusions and Implications: Office-based parenting skills interventions can effectively improve Latina mothers’ level of maternal confidence and the social-emotional development of their toddlers.
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