Abstract Propensity score matching reduced selection bias in a comparison between families who received services from the Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) program and families from a similar background who did not have access to HIPPY. HIPPY is a home visiting program aimed at preparing children for school who are at risk for school failure. A final sample, created by propensity score analysis, consisted of mostly Latino mothers (n = 242) of 3–4-year-old children from an inner-city community. The purpose of the study was to determine relationships between participation in HIPPY and mothers’ cognitive and socioemotional parenting skills, as well as parenting self-efficacy. Mothers filled out several self-report measures during school meetings. Regressions and mediation tests looked at program effects, using a quasi-experimental design. Home visiting participation predicted higher parenting self-efficacy and more school readiness activities in the home. As an indirect benefit, parents who participated in HIPPY learning activities with their child reported closer parent–child relationships than non-participants. Parenting self-efficacy mediated the relationship between HIPPY participation and school readiness activities in the home, supporting a theoretical model of change that shows that changing beliefs about parenting through a home visiting intervention results in change in parenting behavior. HIPPY home visiting appears to be successful in improving parenting self-efficacy, parent–child closeness, and parent engagement in education in a mostly Latino, inner-city population. Future work should look at actual prevention of outcomes such as foster care or family violence through home visiting. Additionally, propensity score analysis can be used in future studies when families cannot be assigned to conditions.

中文翻译：

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倾向得分分析法为学龄前儿童父母做家庭教学对拉丁裔父母的影响

摘要在通过学龄前儿童父母家庭指导（HIPPY）计划获得服务的家庭与背景相似，无法获得HIPPY的家庭之间的比较中，倾向得分匹配降低了选择偏见。HIPPY是一项家庭访问计划，旨在为有上学失败风险的儿童上学做准备。通过倾向得分分析创建的最终样本主要由来自拉丁裔母亲（n = 242）的一个城市内社区的3至4岁儿童组成。这项研究的目的是确定参加HIPPY与母亲的认知和社会情感养育技能以及养育自我效能之间的关系。母亲在学校会议上填写了几项自我报告措施。回归和中介测试考察了程序效果，使用准实验设计。上门拜访的参与预示着更高的养育父母的自我效能感和更多的入学准备活动。作为间接收益，与孩子们一起参加HIPPY学习活动的父母比没有参加者的父母与孩子之间的亲密关系更为密切。养育子女的自我效能感介导了HIPPY参与与家庭中的学校准备活动之间的关系，支持了一种理论变革模型，该模型表明通过上门拜访干预改变对父母教养的信念会导致育儿行为的改变。HIPPY的家访似乎在提高拉丁裔市中心地区人口的育儿自我效能，亲子亲密性以及父母参与教育方面取得了成功。未来的工作应着眼于通过家访来实际预防诸如寄养或家庭暴力等结局。此外，当无法将家庭分配给条件时，倾向评分分析可用于将来的研究。