Parental Demand, Learning, and Satisfaction With Virtual Parent Coaching of Music Interventions

Area of Science:

• Child Development
• Mental Health Interventions
• Autism Spectrum Disorder Research

Background:

• Virtual music therapy and parent coaching offer accessible support for families, particularly those with autistic children.
• The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of virtual interventions, highlighting their potential for overcoming access barriers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility of an 8-week virtual music parent coaching program for families of autistic children.
• To assess parental demand, retention, learning, satisfaction, interventionist fidelity, and perceived outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Quantitative and qualitative measures were employed to assess feasibility aspects.
• Data collection included parental feedback on satisfaction, learning, outcomes, challenges, and benefits.

Main Results:

• Social media recruitment was more effective than email; retention rate was 64% (7/11 participants), with time constraints cited as a primary reason for dropout.
• Parents reported high satisfaction, effective learning, improved child communication, better child understanding, and valued the virtual format's accessibility.
• Interventionist fidelity was achieved rapidly, even with limited specialized autism training.

Conclusions:

• Virtual music parent coaching is a feasible and satisfactory intervention for families of autistic children, enhancing communication and caregiver understanding.
• Recommendations include prioritizing social media for recruitment, assessing parental availability, and tailoring materials for future program implementation.