Implementing Group Parent Training in Telepsychology: Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Pandemic

We recently transitioned from in-person delivery of a brief behavioral parent intervention to telepsychology delivery to meet families' needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this topical review, we describe how we used treatment fidelity as a guiding principle to orient adaptations for telepsychology, as well as preliminary findings and early lessons learned in this implementation. Methods: Using rapid-cycle quality improvement methods, we adapted a brief parent training group (Bootcamp for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder; BC-ADHD) to three groups of caregivers (i.e., 5-7 families) of school-aged children with ADHD (n = 20; 85% males). Families were from the following ethnic backgrounds: 75% White non-Hispanic, 15% White Hispanic, and 10% Black. Clinicians completed measures on their implementation experience. Observers completed measures on content/process fidelity and attendance. Caregivers completed measures on demographics, treatment satisfaction, and telepsychology experience.

Telepsychology BC-ADHD can be implemented with comparably high levels of content and process fidelity and treatment satisfaction to in-person groups; and it appears to be feasible and acceptable to caregivers. Caregiver and clinician qualitative feedback revealed themes of appreciating the convenience of telepsychology, while experiencing some challenges in relating to others and sharing over video.

When treatment fidelity is used as a guiding tool, telepsychology parent training groups can be delivered with high fidelity and appear to be acceptable and feasible to caregivers and clinicians. Future research using larger and more diverse samples, multimethod and multi-informant measurement approaches, and controlled designs is needed to further assess the generalizability and efficacy of telepsychology parent training groups.