Reductions in Sleep Problems Following Intensive Parent-child Interaction Therapy in Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury

Young children diagnosed as having a traumatic brain injury (TBI) often experience cooccurring sleep and behavioral difficulties that can persist for up to 24 months post injury and negatively impact family functioning. Given links between pediatric TBI, family functioning, sleep problems, disruptive behaviors, and the overlap in approaches used to intervene, interventions that target changes in parenting skills are a potential treatment option that can impact multiple outcomes simultaneously. This open trial examined changes in caregiver perceptions of children’s sleep problems following participation in a time-limited and intensive format of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). Participants included six families (100% identified as White and Hispanic) of preschoolers (2 to 5 years old) experiencing elevated behavioral and sleep problems after sustaining a TBI (mild; 83.33%). Treatment consisted of sessions two times per week over five weeks. We hypothesized that participation in the time-limited and intensive intervention would be associated with reductions in caregiver reported sleep difficulties in preschool aged children post treatment and at the two-month follow up. Analyses indicated that children exhibited decreased sleep problems following treatment, with effects maintained at the two-month follow-up. The results of this open trial provide a preliminary framework for targeting domains known to be impacted by early childhood TBI (i.e., child sleep and behavior) and problems that often persist for years post injury. These results also provide support for utilization of a time-limited and intensive format of PCIT to improve outcomes for BIPOC families.