Engaging vulnerable populations in parent-led support groups: Testing a recruitment strategy

•Parent engagement is critical to reducing educational and health disparities.•Study tested an innovative parent engagement strategy – a simulated parent-led support group.•Intentions to attend and parent-led support group attendance significantly increased after the simulation.•The simulation was particularly effective among Hispanics. Despite the proven benefits of parenting interventions, parent engagement in such interventions remains low and is particularly challenging among vulnerable populations. This theoretically grounded study tested the effectiveness of a recruitment strategy – a simulated parent-led support group (PSG) – to increase intentions to attend a PSG in a predominantly low income, minority sample. The study also examined sociodemographic characteristics that may influence the effectiveness of the recruitment strategy and engagement in PSGs. Surveys assessing intentions to attend a PSG were administered before and after the simulation, and a 2-month follow-up survey assessed subsequent PSG attendance. A total of 95 participants were included in this study. Results indicate that participants’ intentions to attend a PSG significantly increased following the PSG simulation (Cohen’s d = 1.15), especially among Hispanics. However, PSG attendance in the 2 months following the PSG simulation was relatively low, with only 13% of parents attending a PSG or a planning meeting to start a new PSG. Nevertheless, this recruitment strategy may serve as an important component of a larger engagement effort, especially given the substantial challenges of engaging vulnerable populations in PSGs and other parenting interventions to reduce educational and health disparities.