Assessing the Satisfaction and Acceptability of an Online Parent Coaching Intervention: A Mixed-Methods Approach

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Telehealth Interventions

Background:

• Parent-mediated intervention (PMI) primarily focuses on child outcomes, often neglecting parental factors like competence and self-efficacy.
• Implementation evaluations are crucial for adapting interventions to new populations, yet are under-reported.
• This study examined the implementation of a 12-week telehealth parent coaching program tailored for Chinese parents, based on the Early Start Denver Model.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the implementation of a telehealth-delivered parent coaching intervention for Chinese parents.
• To assess parental satisfaction, acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of the intervention.
• To compare outcomes between self-directed and web+group therapy telehealth conditions.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial comparing self-directed and web+group therapy telehealth conditions.
• Mixed-methods design with quantitative Program Evaluation Survey data and qualitative focus group data.
• Post-intervention evaluation of intervention implementation.

Main Results:

• Parents in the web+group therapy condition reported significantly higher perceived competence than the self-directed group.
• Key acceptable telehealth strategies included tailored feedback, videos, peer commenting, live coaching, and guided reflection.
• Appropriate program elements comprised family-centered care, home-based delivery, daily activity relevance, the learning platform, and community support.

Conclusions:

• Telehealth delivery was found to be acceptable, appropriate, and feasible for Chinese parents.
• Group-based parent coaching via videoconferencing shows potential as a home-based model to enhance parental perceived competence.
• Further large-scale randomized controlled trials are recommended to confirm the effectiveness of group-based PMI via telehealth.