Feasibility of Online Parent Training for the Treatment of Conduct Problems

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The project tests two online versions of parent management training (PMT), an evidence-based treatment (EBT) for children referred for oppositional, aggressive, and antisocial behavior. Despite the existence of effective interventions, such as PMT, an estimated 70% of children in need of services do not receive them. Practical and logistical problems can make traveling to a clinic to receive in-person treatment impossible. Online treatment offers a solution to this dilemma by significantly expanding access to necessary care and reaching families who are not being served by standard, in-person treatment. The current project seeks to evaluate the feasibility and initial efficacy of two versions of online PMT in reducing clinical dysfunction in a sample of ethnically diverse children (ages 6-12 years) referred for CD and ODD. The groups will vary in the type of therapist contact. One group (Full- contact PMT) is structured identically to standard, in-person PMT but uses a videoconference program to deliver treatment instead of requiring in-person sessions. Although they will not be in the same physical location, families and their therapists will see, hear, and interact with each other in real time. Families in the second group (Reduced-contact PMT) do not have face-to-face interactions with a therapist. Instead, they receive PMT through a comprehensive PMT website with written materials, video clips, and downloadable forms. In addition to therapeutic change in the children, the project evaluates the therapeutic alliance, perceived barriers that interfere with treatment acceptability, and participation in treatment. These latter domains will be evaluated because they have been shown to moderate therapeutic change and may operate differently in the different versions of online treatment (which may differ from traditional, in-person PMT). Findings from this study will inform and guide a large-scale RCT on the efficacy of online PMT and will facilitate longer-term objectives of the research program, namely, wider dissemination of EBTs to underserved populations in the United States (and elsewhere) and geographic areas that are not well served (e.g., rural areas). The findings will also have important implications for other treatments involving the use of the Internet and telepsychiatry/psychology in terms of therapeutic processes, ease of use, and client reactions.