Challenges and successes in conducting assessments in a longitudinal parenting study, Legacy for Children

Inclusion of low-income, ethnically-diverse mothers and children in longitudinal research is essential for understanding development across different contexts. However, recruitment and retention of this population in long-term research poses considerable challenges. Retention issues include both assuring that participants do not withdraw from the study, but also that they attend annual assessments in a timely fashion, as children's assessment results may not be comparable if not collected at the same ages. We will present strategies for engaging and retaining an ethnically-diverse, low-income population of mothers in the assessment component of an ongoing randomized controlled trial of parenting interventions (the CDC-funded Legacy for Children™ Project). The study sample, drawn from Miami and Los Angeles, offers a unique opportunity to examine factors that impact recruitment and retention among a particularly diverse study sample (51.0% African American, 6.6% Haitian, 2.8% Jamaican, 4% other Black Caribbean, 3.3% Non-Hispanic White, 16% Mexican, 5.9% Central American, 4,5% other Hispanic, and 5.9% other race/ethnicity). Data from baseline, 6 month, 1 year, and 2 year assessment time points show that among mothers who attended assessments, between 17% and 34% did so after the optimal assessment window had passed. Strategies to engage and retain participants in long-term research will be presented, as well as barriers encountered and lessons learned. These include incentives, transportation, schedule accommodations, and number and type of contacts necessary before mothers attended assessments. Results of this study will help to inform public health regarding the effort needed to engage diverse population in longitudinal evaluation studies.