Parent Education for Migrant Mothers of Left‐Behind Children in China: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

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. Aunque numerosos estudios han indicado la importancia del apoyo de los padres y de la comunicación entre los padres y los hijos a la hora de aliviar los efectos desfavorables de la partida de los padres en los niños que estos dejan en las zonas rurales, los investigadores rara vez han abordado la influencia que tiene la capacitación de los padres en los padres emigrantes. Sobre la base de los resultados de un ensayo piloto controlado y aleatorizado, el estudio aquí informado consistió en analizar los posibles resultados y la viabilidad de un programa de capacitación para padres orientado a madres que emigran del campo a la ciudad y dejan a sus niños en el campo en China. Sobre la base de un enfoque existencial‐narrativo de la capacitación para padres, el programa estuvo compuesto por seis clases de dos horas y m