Improving Social-Behavioral Adjustment in Adolescents through Parent Training

描述（由申请人提供）：在青春期，青少年经历了关键的生理、情感和认知转变。伴随着巨大的内部变化，青少年的同伴关系变得越来越复杂（例如，小圈子）和具有挑战性（例如，同伴压力），并且，随着青少年努力定义他们的年轻成人角色，家庭内部的关系可能变得越来越紧张和冲突。当青年在青春期过渡过程中遇到困难时，他们更有可能出现各种精神健康障碍（如抑郁、焦虑）、适应不良行为模式（如自我毁灭或冒险行为）和学业失败。父母常常不知道如何与他们的孩子沟通，以帮助他们度过青春期的动荡。由此导致的父母压力水平升高不仅对青少年的适应产生负面影响，而且还使父母面临自身心理健康问题，特别是抑郁症的更高风险。第二阶段SBIR项目将继续研究和开发一种独特的家长培训干预产品，即青少年社会行为发展家长指南。PGA是专门设计来帮助父母学习和实践策略，有效地帮助他们的孩子通过青春期的人际斗争（与同龄人和家庭成员）。PGA将帮助父母学习如何与他们的青少年合作实现社会目标，从而建立父母的信心，减少相关的父母压力，并加强父母与青少年的沟通。完整的PGA产品将为12个家长小组会议提供手动的，结构化的脚本，为家长提供广泛的书面，视频和基于网络的干预材料，以及为提供者提供各种在线专业发展和实施支持资源。一旦项目完成，将对其效果进行科学评估。家长将被随机分配到PGA治疗组（TX）或注意力控制组（AC） （n=72）。将通过检查(a)父母对青少年面临的社会问题的理解和解决社会问题的技能的变化来评价效果；(b)父母帮助子女的自我效能感；(c)养育子女的压力；(d)青少年的社会和行为功能；(e)亲子关系的质量（如沟通、冲突）作为治疗条件的函数。我们预计TX条件将在每个结果领域显示显着的积极变化，而AC条件预计将显示很少或没有变化。PGA将是一种非常独特的创新产品，将填补干预市场中目前没有任何其他商业化产品填补的利基市场。这项SBIR将为提供者和父母提供宝贵的资源，有可能对青少年及其家庭的生活产生重大影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): During adolescence, youth undergo pivotal biological, emotional, and cognitive shifts. Concomitant with immense internal shifts, adolescent peer relations become increasingly complex (e.g., cliques) and challenging (e.g., peer pressure) and, as teens struggle to define their young adult role, relationships within the family can become increasingly strained and conflictual. When youth experience difficulties navigating the transitions of adolescence, they are at heightened risk for developing a variety of mental health disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety), maladaptive behavior patterns (e.g., self-destructive or risk-taking behaviors) and academic failure. Parents are often at a loss for how to communicate with their teen to help them through the turmoil of adolescence. The resulting elevated levels of parental stress not only negatively impacts adolescent adjustment, but also places parents at heightened risk for their own mental health problems, particularly depression. This Phase II SBIR project will continue the research and development (R&D) of a unique parent training intervention product, the Parent Guide to Adolescent Social-Behavioral Development (PGA). PGA is specifically designed to help parents learn and practice strategies to effectively help their teen through the interpersonal struggles of adolescence (with peers and family members). PGA will help parents learn how to work collaboratively with their adolescent to achieve social goals, thereby building parental confidence, reducing related parental stress, and enhancing parent-teen communication. The full PGA product will offer manualized, structured scripts for 12 parent group sessions, a wide array of written, video, and web-based intervention materials for parents, and a variety of online professional development and implementation support resources for providers. Once the program is finalized, a scientific evaluation of its efficacy will be conducted. Parents will be randomly assigned to PGA treatment (TX) or attention control (AC) conditions (n=72 each). Efficacy will be evaluated by examining changes in (a) parent understanding of social issues facing adolescents and social problem solving skills; (b) parental self-efficacy for helping their teen; (c) parenting stress; (d) adolescent social and behavioral functioning; and (e) quality of the parent-teen relationship (e.g., communication, conflict) as a function of treatment condition. We expect the TX condition to show significant positive change in each outcome area versus the AC condition which is expected to show little to no change. PGA will be a highly unique, innovative product that will fill a niche in the intervention marketplace not currently filled through any other commercialized product. This SBIR will yield a valuable resource for providers and parents with the potential to make a significant impact on the lives of adolescents and their families.