| Description |
Background: Behavioral problems are some of the most commonly encountered clinical symptoms in children and adolescents within psychiatric/mental health settings (Pastor, Reuben, & Duran, 2012). Scientists have associated emotional and behavioral problems in childhood, with adverse outcomes across all domains of functioning (Fergusson, John Horwood, & Ridder, 2005). The shifting trend of medication only treatment modalities has shown little effect on these common behavioral symptoms (Steiner & Remsing, 2007). For school age children with oppositional or behavioral problems, parent management training is the most empirically supported treatment approach (Steiner & Remsing, 2007). There is a clear need for providers to incorporate evidence-based parent training interventions into treatments for out-patient pediatric mental health patients with oppositional or behavioral problems. Purpose: This project aimed to test the feasibility of a group framework that out-patient psychiatric clinicians, working with pediatric patients, could utilize to include parent training in their clinical practice. Methods: Providers in a private, outpatient, mental health clinic invited the caregivers of 10 qualified patients ages 12 and under with reported oppositional or behavioral problems to participate in the pilot program. Clinical staff first assessed the participants' attitude and awareness of parent training interventions with a questionnaire to provide initial guidance for the development and delivery of the pilot intervention. They then offered the participants Barkley's Defiant Children (2013), an evidence based clinical parent training program in a group format, delivered in five 1-hour sessions over a 7-week time period (Barkely, 2013). The staff assessed the effectiveness and feasibility of the intervention by analyzing participation rates, clinical provider hours spent in delivery and documentation of the intervention, total billable group hours, and post-intervention questionnaires completed by the participants at the end of the pilot intervention. Results: The caregivers of five qualified patients participated in the pilot program, with the following results: a participation rate of 100% for sessions 1 through 4 and 40% for session 5, for a total rate of 88%; and 6.3 clinical provider hours in delivery and documentation, with 22 total billable group hours, averaging 3.49 billable hours per 1 hour worked by the clinical provider. Participants were receptive and gave high ratings to the helpfulness of the information and training provided in the program, as well as the likeliness they will utilize the skills taught and recommend the program to friends or family members. Conclusion: These results indicate a feasible option for incorporating Parent training in an out-patient psychiatric clinic. |
