An Open Trial for an E Health Treatment for Child Behavior Disorders I: Social Acceptability, Engagement, and Therapeutic Process
ABSTRACT This nonrandomized trial aimed to demonstrate how an established evidence based parenting intervention could be implemented in a telemental health environment. The study aimed to explore how socially acceptable the newly designed platform was and to explore parent satisfaction, engagement patterns, and process outcomes. The design was a 2 (group: clinic based vs. e health parenting intervention) x 3 (time: pre, post, and 3 month follow up) repeated measures trial comparing families who received treatment online (N 22) to a matched sample that received clinic based treatment (N 25) Participants were 47 families with a child between 3 and 12 years of age with a primary diagnosis of oppositional defiant disorder or conduct disorder. Parents in both groups indicated they were satisfied with treatment, with parents in the e health group indicating the website was interesting, easy to use, efficient, and innovative. Parents agreed that they were engaged with therapy sessions regardless of the medium; however, clinicians indicated that clinic based parents were more engaged. Parents' ratings of the therapeutic alliance were equivalent between the two groups, whereas clinicians' ratings were significantly higher for the e health group. Overall clinicians indicated feeling more empowered and having higher self efficacy to treat clinic based families.