Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 14, 2025
A Treatment Package without Escape Extinction to Address Food Selectivity
Published on: August 21, 2015
Parents' Preferences for Behavioral Services in Primary Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Rachel A Petts1, Bethany L Walker2, Katherine A Hails3
1Department of Psychology, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS. Dr. Petts is now at the School of Psychology and Counseling, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Teaneck, NJ.
Insights
During the COVID-19 pandemic, parents prioritized child self-calming and preferred remote, media-based behavioral health services over group classes. Pediatric primary care can enhance services with multimedia resources.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric primary care
- Behavioral health services
- Public health during pandemics
Background:
- Pediatric primary care settings are crucial for delivering behavioral health services to children and families.
- The COVID-19 pandemic's impact on parental priorities for these services in primary care was previously unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced parents' priorities and preferences for behavioral health services within pediatric primary care.
- To compare current parental preferences with pre-pandemic data.
Main Methods:
- A survey was administered to 301 parents of young children across 5 US pediatric sites between July 2020 and January 2021.
- Data were compared with a pre-pandemic cohort (n=396) using the same preference measures for behavioral topics and service delivery.
Main Results:
- Child self-calming emerged as a significantly more important behavioral topic during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic.
- Parents showed increased interest in media-based delivery methods (e.g., mobile apps, videos) and decreased interest in group classes/seminars.
- An overall increased preference for multimedia resources and decreased preference for usual care were observed in the pandemic cohort, even after controlling for demographics.
Conclusions:
- Parental priorities for behavioral topics in primary care remained largely consistent before and during the pandemic.
- A significant shift towards preferring remote and media-based service delivery methods was evident during the pandemic.
- Pediatric practices should consider integrating multimedia resources into their behavioral health services to meet evolving parental needs post-pandemic.
Objective:
Pediatric primary care is an ideal setting to provide behavioral health services to young children and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is unclear how the pandemic altered parents' priorities and preferences to obtain behavioral services in this setting.
Method:
Between July 2020 and January 2021, 301 parents of young children in 5 pediatric sites across the United States completed survey measures on their preferences for behavioral topics and service delivery methods in primary care. The current sample was compared with a previous sample of parents (n = 396) who completed the same measures in 2018.
Results:
Child self-calming was the only behavioral topic that was rated as significantly more important in the pandemic cohort in comparison with the prepandemic cohort. The pandemic cohort also reported significantly more interest in using certain media resources (e.g., mobile apps and videos) as a delivery method and less interest in group classes/seminars. After controlling for demographic differences between the samples, there was an increased preference for multimedia resources overall in the pandemic cohort, as well as a decreased preference for usual care.
Conclusion:
Parents generally endorse similar priorities for behavioral topics in primary care during the pandemic as they did before the pandemic. However, there is a clear preference for more remote and media-based services during the pandemic. Pediatric practices may consider augmenting behavioral health services with multimedia resources during and after the COVID-19 pandemic to meet parents' needs.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:24Operant Conditioning Intervention
In operant conditioning, behaviors that are...
01:27Parenting Styles
Authoritarian Parenting
This style is strict and controlling, with little room for open dialogue. Authoritarian parents demand obedience and often enforce rules with minimal warmth. Children raised this way may lack social skills and initiative, usually comparing themselves to others unfavorably.
Authoritative...
01:30Specialized Care Centers and Settings-I
Daycare centers
They provide several functions. Some facilities care for healthy newborns and children whose parents work, while others are medically focused and care for...
01:30Specialized Care Centers and Settings-II
Rural health centers are specialized care facilities in remote locations with very few medical personnel. The primary care providers who run the centers are mostly Registered Nurse Practitioners. Here, emergency treatment is provided to critically ill or injured patients before they are transferred to the closest hospital. Fortunately, due to advancement in technology, many rural healthcare facilities and professionals have easy access to diagnostic and treatment...
01:19Autism Spectrum Disorder
These core symptoms manifest differently among individuals, ranging from mild to severe. The disorder's complexity extends beyond its clinical presentation, encompassing a diverse range of biological, cognitive, and sociocultural influences.
01:30Preventive Healthcare Services