No single approach has been shown to significantly enhance the delivery or outcomes of Behavioral Parent Training (BPT) programs for low-income families of youth with Disruptive Behavior Disorders (DBD), a group that is overrepresented in statistics on DBD. This grant, submitted in response to Harnessing Advanced Health Technologies to Drive Mental Health Improvement (R01) (RFA-MH-13-060), aims to replicate and extend pilot study (R34MH082956; Jones, PI) findings demonstrating the untapped potential for technology to influence service-delivery of one evidence-based BPT program, Helping the Noncompliant Child (HNC), to low-income families of youth with DBD. In order to replicate and extend the R34 pilot findings, we propose a sufficiently powered randomized control trial (RCT) comparing: 1). Technology-Enhanced HNC (TE-HNC) to 2). Standard HNC. All low-income families will receive the core intervention components of the HNC program, including active, directive skill-building and practice aimed at disrupting the coercive cycle of parent-child interactions associated with the onset, maintenance, and exacerbation of child noncompliance, aggression, and oppositional behavior that characterize DBD. In addition, one group will receive the technology- enhancements via smartphones, an ideal delivery vehicle given the increased access to, ownership, and cost- effectiveness of smartphones for low-income families. The study aims are to compare TE-HNC with HNC in: 1). increasing therapeutic gains in HNC on parenting and child behavior; 2). increasing engagement of families in HNC services and generalization of HNC skills to the home; 3). decreasing deterioration in HNC treatment gains over time; and 4). increasing efficiency and, in turn, incremental cost-effectiveness of HNC service delivery. Thus, while equating the core therapeutic content across treatment groups, we address the fundamental, unexamined question of whether technology has the potential to significantly improve upon the traditional BPT delivery system to better engage and impact low income families of youth with DBD. In order to address this question, we will replicate and extend our successful and promising R34 pilot RCT infrastructure to recruit 122 low-income families of children with DBD and we will follow each enrolled family for one year. The Data Monitoring Group (DMG) will monitor recruitment, treatment fidelity, assessments, and human subjects protections. The development of innovative, efficacious, and cost-effective approaches to improving BPT service delivery to low income families of youth with DBD has substantial personal, familial, and public health implications. The results from this trial have the potential to transform service delivery and outcomes for this vulnerable and underserved group.

Public Health Relevance

Technology has the potential to transform child mental health treatment. The proposed R01 aims to utilize smartphones to enhance service-delivery and outcomes in one area of children's mental health, Behavioral Parent Training (BPT) for low-income families of youth with Disruptive Behavior Disorders (DBD). However, it is critical to note that the smartphone-enhancements tested in this R01 could be replicated with other technology platforms, across the range of BPT programs, and in other areas of child mental health.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH100377-03
Application #
8914670
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel ()
Program Officer
Sherrill, Joel
Project Start
2013-09-10
Project End
2017-07-31
Budget Start
2015-09-01
Budget End
2016-07-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2015
Total Cost
$668,278
Indirect Cost
$166,447
Name
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
608195277
City
Chapel Hill
State
NC
Country
United States
Zip Code
27599
Anton, Margaret T; Jones, Deborah J (2018) Parent-therapist alliance and technology use in behavioral parent training: A brief report. Psychol Serv :
Khavjou, Olga A; Turner, Patrick; Jones, Deborah J (2018) Cost Effectiveness of Strategies for Recruiting Low-Income Families for Behavioral Parent Training. J Child Fam Stud 27:1950-1956
Sanders, Wesley; Parent, Justin; Forehand, Rex (2018) Parenting to Reduce Child Screen Time: A Feasibility Pilot Study. J Dev Behav Pediatr 39:46-54
Jones, Deborah J; Loiselle, Raelyn; Highlander, April (2018) Parent-Adolescent Socialization of Social Class in Low-Income White Families: Theory, Research, and Future Directions. J Res Adolesc 28:622-636
van Stolk-Cooke, Katherine; Brown, Andrew; Maheux, Anne et al. (2018) Crowdsourcing Trauma: Psychopathology in a Trauma-Exposed Sample Recruited via Mechanical Turk. J Trauma Stress 31:549-557
Jones, Deborah J (2017) Technology 2.0: A Commentary on Progress, Challenges, and Next Steps. Child Maltreat 22:281-285
Parent, Justin; Forehand, Rex; Pomerantz, Hayley et al. (2017) Father Participation in Child Psychopathology Research. J Abnorm Child Psychol 45:1259-1270
Breslend, Nicole Lafko; Parent, Justin; Forehand, Rex et al. (2017) Children of parents with a history of depression: The impact of a preventive intervention on youth social problems through reductions in internalizing problems. Dev Psychopathol :1-13
Parent, Justin; Forehand, Rex (2017) The Multidimensional Assessment of Parenting Scale (MAPS): Development and Psychometric Properties. J Child Fam Stud 26:2136-2151
Anton, Margaret T; Jones, Deborah J (2017) Adoption of Technology-Enhanced Treatments: Conceptual and Practical Considerations. Clin Psychol (New York) 24:223-240

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