Abstract
In countries with public health insurance, caregivers may face long wait times to access services for children with intellectual and developmental disability. This limited access may compromise the adaptation of the child and their family, especially when specialized services (e.g., early intensive behavioral interventions) are needed to manage problem behaviors. Further, longer wait times can contribute to parental stress and increase problem behaviors in children. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an online parent training for managing problem behaviors for families awaiting specialized services. Twenty-nine families of children with intellectual and developmental disability participated in a randomized controlled trial with random assignment to a waitlist control (i.e., sixteen families in the experimental group and thirteen in the waitlist group). Our results demonstrated that the online training led to reductions in the frequency of problem behaviors and parenting stress while improving caregivers’ self-efficacy. This study provides preliminary evidence for the utility of an online training to support caregivers of young children with intellectual and developmental disability.
Highlights
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This online training can support caregivers in managing problem behaviors while awaiting services for their child.
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The results demonstrated that the training increased caregivers’ sense of self-efficacy in managing problem behaviors.
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A significant decrease in parental stress was observed in caregivers who completed the online training.
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Acknowledgements
This paper was written in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Ph.D. degree in Psychology at the Université du Québec à Montréal by the first author. This study was supported in part by scholarships awarded to the first author by the Consortium national de recherche en intégration sociale (CNRIS) and the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture.
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This study was funded partially by grants from the Office des personnes handicapées du Québec and the CNRIS to the fourth author.
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Grenier-Martin, J., Rivard, M., Patel, S. et al. Randomized Controlled Trial on an Online Training to Support Caregivers of Young Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disability managing Problem Behaviors at Home. J Child Fam Stud 31, 3485–3497 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-022-02440-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-022-02440-9