The goal of this Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development (K23) Award is to support the can- didate in launching a career as a school-based mental health services researcher. The overarching goal of the candidate?s research is to maximize continuity for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by ensuring that parents and teachers are conducting the same evidence-based practices (EBPs) across home and school. Training at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins University is proposed under the guidance of Re- becca Landa, PhD CCC-SLP, and a team of multidisciplinary co-mentors. Training goals include: 1) developing expertise in the communication needs of parents and teachers during the transition to school (i.e., pre-k) for children with ASD; 2) translating strategies developed in health communication theory and practice for use in early childhood educational settings; and 3) gaining skills in conducting school-based trials with the use of mixed methods. The research proposed builds logically from the candidate?s NRSA F32 used to develop Part- ners in School, a consultation model where parents and teachers of children with ASD are supported in dupli- cating intervention elements from school to home. This model is lacking an explicit focus on education com- munication skills (ECS) training during the transition to school. The gap may be addressed using the LEAPS framework, a patient-physician communication intervention comprised of web-based videos. The research goal of this K23 is to refine Partners in School by adapting LEAPS for use in educational settings and then applying it to improve parent-teacher communication during the transition to school for children with ASD.
Aim 1 pro- poses to adapt LEAPS for appropriate use with parents and teachers as children with ASD transition to school. Qualitative methods will be used with three focus groups (n=6 parents; n=6 teachers; n= 6 parents and teach- ers).
Aim 2 will use mixed methods to pilot test the feasibility and acceptability of the ECS trainings. After doing the ECS trainings, parent-teacher dyads (n=10) will complete two surveys and be interviewed, resulting in a final set of 18 ECS videos.
In Aim 3, teachers (n=24) will be randomized to Partners in School with ECS (n=12) or psycho-educational webinars (n=12). Each teacher will work with two parents (n=48), resulting in 24 dyads per condition. There will be two waves of data collection (pre and post). Mechanisms of change include com- munication knowledge (ECS), aligned orientation (alliance, relationship quality), and skills (problem solving). Proximal outcomes are fidelity (parent or teacher fidelity to the co-constructed student intervention plan, SIP) continuity (parent and teacher fidelity to the SIP), and feasibility and acceptability of the final 18 ECS training videos. Distal outcomes include parent-teacher (self-efficacy, satisfaction) and child (improvements in behavior and parent/teacher concerns) variables. This work is aligned with NIMH?s strategic priorities because it estab- lishes a research-practice partnership, develops a service delivery model by adapting an evidence-based health communication strategy, and applies this new method to improve access and continuity of care.
The proposed research will be accomplished through a research-practice partnership. It will develop an innova- tive service delivery model by adapting an evidence-based health communication strategy for educational set- tings and applying this new method to improve access and continuity of care for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in diverse communities. This work will strengthen the public health impact of NIMH-supported research.
