PURPOSE: Despite its high relevance, there is little data surrounding parent acceptability of research that involves neurobiological data collection. The present mixed-method study examined parent acceptability of neuroimaging and hormonal biomarker collection in the context of an evidence-based child-focused intervention. METHODS: Parent participants (N = 173) were recruited from prior hospital-based studies that did not involve biomarker collection, including a clinical-research parenting program designed to treat child behavioral challenges in at-risk groups. Parents answered survey questions, detailing perspectives on research-based brain neuroimaging and hormonal biomarker collection in children and caregivers. Analyses adopted a mixed-methods approach to assess both quantitative and qualitative data. RESULTS: Half or more parent participants indicated interest in the proposed methodologies, with high acceptability reflected in themes surrounding knowledge translation and indicators of child functioning and treatment effectiveness. Expressed concerns surrounded procedure tolerability, timing, and data privacy. Acceptability was highest among parents who concurrently reported elevated child behavior problems and parental mental health stress. Acceptability was also highest for saliva cortisol collection due to procedure ease. CONCLUSIONS: Neuroimaging and hormonal biomarker collection appear promising for capture of brain and physiologic plasticity in neurologically at-risk children and their caregivers. Future efforts should focus on procedure transparency and sensitively adapting methodologies to meet patient and family needs.
Keywords: Acceptability; Child mental health; Cortisol biomarker; Neuroimaging biomarker; Parenting intervention.