Caregiver Needs and Technology Acceptability for Behavioral-Crisis Support in Children With Neurodevelopmental or...

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Behavioral Health
• Health Technology
• Caregiver Support

Background:

• Behavioral crises are frequent in children with neurodevelopmental conditions, often leading to emergency services.
• Access to behavioral therapy is limited for these children.
• Caregiver needs for in-home crisis support technologies are largely unstudied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess caregiver burden, training, therapy access, and technology preferences for managing childhood behavioral crises.
• To explore caregiver acceptance of novel technology-based crisis support tools.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional online survey was administered to 84 caregivers of children aged 5-17 with neurodevelopmental or behavioral conditions.
• The survey assessed crisis experience, service use, caregiver confidence, training, therapy barriers, and technology acceptance.
• Data were analyzed using proportions, medians, and ordinal methods.

Main Results:

• 93% of caregivers reported their child experienced behavioral crises, with 27% using emergency services.
• 52% felt unprepared to manage crises, and 57% cited long waitlists for therapy.
• Caregivers expressed high interest in technology (apps, in-home systems, wearables), valuing personalized plans and de-escalation scripts, but raised privacy concerns.

Conclusions:

• Caregivers experience substantial crisis burden and limited resources, yet are open to technology-assisted support.
• Personalization and privacy are key considerations for developing effective caregiver-facing crisis technologies.
• Findings are hypothesis-generating and can inform future research and technology design.