Pilot Evaluation of the Families Make the Difference Parenting Program With Arab Families Residing in Berlin, Germany

We examined the impact of the program “Families Make the Difference” (FMD) on well-being, feelings of distress, parental stress, parenting, co-parenting, paternal engagement, and several exploratory outcomes of Arab families in Berlin, Germany. FMD is a parent support program designed to assist families with refugee and migration backgrounds as they navigate life in Germany, where they often face challenges such as uncertain residency status, economic hardship, and the loss of their social and familial networks. In addition to the main effects on key outcomes, we also hypothesized that the changes in social support relate to the changes in parent characteristics (e.g., parental stress) and parenting behaviors. One hundred thirty-five caregivers participated in FMD and completed questionnaires before and after the program. We found small but statistically non-significant changes in most outcome measures over time. The only statistically significant finding indicated that female participants reported a decrease in parental stress over time, whereas male participants, on average, reported an increase. The results also suggest that increases in the perceptions of social support over time were associated with reductions in parental stress and feelings of distress and with increases in sensitive parenting, a composite measure of responsive caregiving, paternal engagement with the child and his spouse, and co-parenting. The findings imply that parenting programs with Arab families should be tailored to the needs of male and female caregivers. Future studies should examine the role of social support as a contributing factor to the benefits of parenting programs.