Promoting Family Mental Health Through Mother-to-Teenager Parenting Education: An Evaluation of The GINARASA Program in Sumbawa, Indonesia

Adolescent mental health challenges in Sumbawa, Indonesia, are increasingly associated with peer influences, digital media exposure, and limited family support. In response, the GINARASA program was developed as a community-based intervention to promote family mental health through parenting education for mothers of adolescents. This study aimed to evaluate changes in maternal knowledge and positive parenting practices following participation in the GINARASA program. A one-group pretest–posttest intervention study was conducted from August to September 2026, involving 44 mothers in Sumbawa Regency who were recruited through purposive sampling. Quantitative data were analyzed using paired-samples t-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, while open-ended responses were examined through thematic analysis. The findings revealed a statistically significant increase in maternal knowledge scores, from 2.82 to 5.00 (p < 0.001), and positive parenting and communication scores, from 16.41 to 23.07 (p < 0.001). Qualitative findings further suggested that participating mothers adopted calmer responses, practiced active listening, and reported improved communication with their adolescent children. These findings suggest that structured, community-based parenting education may strengthen maternal knowledge, positive parenting practices, and parent–adolescent communication, providing a potentially useful approach to promoting family mental health at the community level. However, the absence of a control group limited causal interpretation, and future studies should incorporate controlled designs, longer-term follow-up assessments, and adolescent-reported outcomes to evaluate the program's effectiveness and sustainability.