Objective: We examined feasibility and acceptability of an adapted telepsychological parent-child intervention to improve parenting skills and reduce emotional and behavioural difficulties in Canadian families of children at-risk for poor neurodevelopment given congenital or neonatal conditions. Preliminary program efficacy outcomes are also described.
Methods: Twenty-two families of children between the ages of 3-8 years with histories of neonatal stroke, hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and serious congenital and neonatal conditions [(congenital heart disease (CHD) or prematurity)] consented to participate in an adapted telepsychological parenting skills training program (I-InTERACT-North). The program helps parents develop positive parenting skills to improve parenting competence and child behaviour through 7 online psychoeducational modules completed independently and 7 videoconference sessions with a therapist. Videoconference sessions include live coaching to support application of skills. Feasibility (i.e., number of participants eligible, consented, refused), adherence (i.e., completion time, retention rates), acceptability (i.e., website experience questionnaire, therapist and parent semi-structured interviews), and preliminary efficacy (i.e., observational coding of parenting skill, self-reported parent competence, parent-reported child behaviour) data were collected.
Results: Nineteen of the 22 families (86%) enrolled completed the program in an average of 10 weeks (range: 6-17 weeks). Parents and therapists reported high overall satisfaction with the program (100%), including acceptability of both the online modules (95%) and the videoconference sessions (95%). Parenting confidence (d = 0.45), parenting skill (d = 0 .64), and child behaviour (d = 0.50) significantly improved over the course of the intervention.
Conclusions: Findings provide preliminary evidence for the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of I-InTERACT-North for parents of children with neonatal brain injury.
Keywords: Parenting; behavioural parent training; child; emotion and behaviour difficulties; internet-based interventions; mental health; telehealth.