Abstract

A nonrandom sample of 23 pairs of Chinese immigrant parents and their American-born children (ages 8.8 to 11) were recruited to measure the effectiveness of a 5-week Parent-Child Assertive Communication Training (PC-ACT) program. Using a quasi-experimental Interrupted Time-Series design, both the parents and their child were assessed five weeks before the training (Baseline 1), immediately before the training (Baseline 2), and right after the training (Post-Intervention).  The Baseline 2 assessment and the actual training started on the 5th week.  Participants were recruited from the normal population in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California.

At the three measurement times, parents were administered the Relationship Questionnaire (PRQ; Kamphaus & Reynolds, 2006), the Family Functioning Measure (FFM; Wagner et al., 2010), and the Children’s Action Tendency Scale (CATS; Deluty, 1979).  (The revised CATS questions asked the parents how they thought their child would respond to each vignette).  Parents also completed a general information questionnaire, a program evaluation, and process evaluation to measure their understanding of the lesson content. Children were administered the FFM  (adapted slightly for children) and the CATS at the three measurement times; they also completed a program evaluation.  The study hypothesized a greater difference between Baseline 2 and the Post Intervention scores than between the Baseline 1 and Baseline 2 scores.

All mean T-scores of the four PRQ subscales (Communication, Discipline Practices, Involvement and Parenting Confidence) reported within normal range.  Within the intervention period, PRQ Involvement and Parenting Confidence scores significantly changed in direction consistent with the program’s effectiveness; however, the PRQ Communication and Discipline Practices scores did not change significantly.  With slight differences, parents and children demonstrated similar patterns on the subscales of CATS, i.e., significantly increasing scores in Assertiveness, and significantly decreasing scores in both Aggressiveness and Submissiveness.  These findings support the effectiveness of the PC-ACT program.  The slightly adapted FFM did not appear sensitive enough for Chinese American children.  Most of the parents and children evaluated the PC-ACT program very positively.  There is a need to develop formal psychometric evaluations and evidence-based parenting programs for Chinese Americans.