Table 3:

Illustrative quotes that correspond to themes and sub-themes embedded in the relational, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components of empowerment

Themes	Sub-Themes	Illustrative Quotes
Relational Component
Expansion of social networks: Friendships formed and relationships strengthened during PConnect	Multi-cultural group experience heightened parents’ appreciation of cultures and enhanced their learning experience	“I love the fact that there was diversity in [the] background of moms there. Not only moms from like Arab-speaking [countries], or they want a diversity in terms of language, religion, and everybody. I felt that freshness when they would share their experience. You can relate. You find something universal like all moms goes through that. I love that.” – Parent 13
		“Our thoughts and situations are different. The differences are quite significant. We have different opinions in the class and we all speak out. One said one thing, the other said something else. I think this is difficult. Because what you said may be right, but each one has their own view, everyone believes one’s view is correct. Due to cultural gap, it feels like we are arguing. One said one thing, the other said something else. The issue of cultural gap requires some separation and division.” - Parent 36
	Bidirectional support from other PConnect parents facilitated others’ empowerment and improved family health	“Mainly, it was because of the people there and how they were eager and they wanted to make a change. It just did something inside of me where I wanted to actually flush out and I wanted to stop just talking about it or thinking about it or wishing for it. Seeing how the other parents move … it just made me wanna move faster. So I think it was the encouragement that they had actually provided at that point. I started making changes as soon as the second meeting that we actually had.” – Parent 29
		“Yes, we celebrated his [my son’s] birthday and I invited two people [from PConnect] and they came to the party. So yes, we [see each other] outside of PConnect. Not all of them, but at least two of them. Actually, yesterday, I picked up her [PConnect parent] daughter because she works very early. I said ‘Don’t worry, I can pick her up.’ We always talk on WhatsApp.” – Parent 31
		“I’ve tried to share with my friends what I’ve learned about food, screen time… Children took refuge in computers or tablets. I share with the other mothers and tell them, “Try to start with half an hour less. If they watched it for two hours, now they can watch it one hour and a half. Then reducing going until you reach the time you consider necessary, they can be on the screen.” I share everything I learned with other people.” – Parent 20
Emotional Component
Parenting efficacy: Parents strengthened relationships with their children and believed in their ability to parent successfully		“[PConnect] helped me understand myself a little bit more also on my parenting techniques because I have a bit of anxiety and sometimes struggle with communication, especially with my daughter. [PConnect] helps me look at myself and try to figure out what I’m doing wrong and try to work on techniques to help myself, so I won’t stress myself out and connect with my daughter on a better level.” – Parent 22
		“It feels more better and more lighter and brighter in the home.” - Parent 29
		“There are less tantrums. Now, I try to listen to her before reprimanding her, before telling her, ‘It’s time to eat!’ Sometimes she wasn’t hungry and we would start arguing and ultimately, she wouldn’t eat. And we would end up, her with a tantrum and me upset. It’s better to talk, learn about her need.” - Parent 3
Cognitive Component
Critical awareness: The experience of knowledge led to behavior change		“I change their sleep patterns, which makes them effective for the next time, which helps them to control their emotions, to concentrate or have different benefits. I’m working with it, and I benefited from that because my child’s starting to have almost enough sleep.” – Parent 27
		“My son, a few months ago, almost fell on top of a needle—for cryin’ out loud—that was by our house. There’s lots of things and gross stuff that’s in the parks, so we were talkin’ about cleaning up the parks and understanding that it’s gonna have to be done and repeatedly because these people are just gonna repeatedly keep hangin’ there. Our children, they can’t be locked inside. They need to be outside and playin’ around.” – Parent 29
Resource mobilization: Parents used new resources to improve family health		“By participating in PConnect, I learned of some of the resources that I didn’t know [of before]. I know how I can use them and how I can choose between the more available resources for me--how I can prioritize my things.” - Parent 27
Behavioral Component
Behavioral empowerment/advocacy: Parents took action	PConnect parents practiced their advocacy skills	“I can help my community with that. I can post it around. Say if you need help or you need somebody, or you need to know something about your community, about your potholes, about parking, who do you connect to? There’s a lot of research that PConnect taught me that can help my community…If there’s something wrong with the public park that we have, there’s a number that we can contact to keep the park clean or keep it safe for the kids. Yea, I can help my community do all of that.” – Parent 2
		“Finally, they unlocked our playground after calling a million times, and submitting a million Twitter feeds. They finally unlocked our playground. That was great.” – Parent 8
	PConnect parents made changes to enhance family health	“Instead of frying, I bake now. Instead of giving her [my daughter] a white potato, I make sweet potato French fries for them. Instead of pasta, I use gluten-free pasta or quinoa, or small changes that they wouldn’t notice.” – Parent 10
		“I never walked because I have a car and it was easier to take the car to pick up my son. But once she told me [about exercise], I tried it and I started walking. I like it”– Parent 31