Elsevier

Child Abuse & Neglect

Volume 38, Issue 9, September 2014, Pages 1487-1495
Child Abuse & Neglect

Web-based parenting skills to reduce behavior problems following abusive head trauma: A pilot study

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.04.012Get rights and content

Abstract

Pediatric abusive head trauma causes significant cognitive and behavioral morbidity, yet very few post-acute interventions exist to facilitate long-term recovery. To meet the needs of this vulnerable population, we piloted a web-based intervention with live coaching designed to improve positive parenting and child behavior. The efficacy of this parenting skills intervention was compared with access to Internet resources on brain injury. Participants included seven families (four randomized to the parenting intervention and three randomized to receive Internet resources). Parenting skills were observed and child behavior was rated at baseline and intervention completion. At completion, parents who received the parenting skills intervention showed significantly more positive parenting behaviors and fewer undesirable behaviors during play than parents who received access to Internet resources. Additionally, during play, children in the parenting skills intervention group were more compliant following parent commands than children in the Internet resources group. Lastly, parents who received the parenting intervention reported less intense oppositional and conduct behavior problems in their children post-intervention than did parents in the Internet resources group. These findings provide preliminary evidence for the use of this web-based positive parenting skills intervention to improve parenting skills and child behavior following abusive head trauma.

Section snippets

Participants

Participants in the current study constitute a subset of participants from a larger study examining the efficacy of a web-based positive parenting skills intervention (I-InTERACT; Internet-based Interacting Together Everyday: Recovery After Childhood TBI) with families of children with acquired brain injuries (traumatic brain injury, tumors, and abusive head trauma). The larger study was approved by the Institutional Review Board and is included on the national clinical trials website

Results

The I-InTERACT and IRC groups were well-matched with regard to age, parental relationship status, parental education, and computer ownership (Table 1). The range of family income was also similar across groups. In both the I-InTERACT and IRC groups, income ranged from less than $20,000 per year (n = 2) to over $100,000 per year (n = 1). Both groups included one father as a primary caregiver. Average intellectual ability standard scores for children in the I-InTERACT and IRC groups were 93.5 (SD = 

Discussion

The I-InTERACT program included parenting skills training and strategies for coping with the cognitive and behavioral sequelae of traumatic brain injury through structured self-guided web pages and synchronous one-on-one coaching sessions with a trained therapist. Findings from this preliminary assessment support the potential efficacy of web-based parent skills training in improving parent–child interactions and reducing the intensity of child behavior problems following AHT. Specifically,

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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  • Cited by (0)

    Work on this project was supported by grant numbers H133G060167 and H133B090010 to the last author from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, Department of Education. A portion of this work was presented at the 2011 annual meeting of the Society for Computers in Psychology in Seattle, Washington, the 2011 Federal Interagency Conference on Traumatic Brain Injury in Washington, DC, the 2012 Butters-Kaplan West Coast Neuropsychology Conference in San Diego, CA, and the 2012 North American Brain Injury Society meeting in Miami, FL.

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