The Effective Parenting Program (EPP): An Integrated Stress Reduction andParenting Intervention for Families of Children with Developmental Disabilities

Project Summary!Parents who have children with developmental disabilitiesDDcommonly experience high levels of stress related to child behavior problems and contextual issues related to the childandapos s disability that can have a detrimental effect on their parentingCurrent stress management programs for this population of parents often do not lead to a reduction in childrenandapos s behavior problems and Behavioral Parent Training programsBPTdo not always lead to a reduction in stressInterventions that combine the two approaches are more effectiveproviding substantial benefits to both parent and childThe central goal of this project is to create an onlineinteractive stress reduction and BPT programThe Effective Parenting ProgramEPPAn Integrated Parenting Intervention for Families of Children with Developmental DisabilitiesWe propose three Specific Aims with the primary aims of reducing parentsandaposstress and strengthening parentsandaposparenting efficacy and psychological flexibilityOur secondary aims are designed to answer questions regardingathe influence of changes in parentsandaposefficacy and psychological flexibility on child behavior andbthe role of parentsandaposattention to and awareness of present moment experiencesThis work is significant because it will provide resources for an underserved populationparents of children with DDwho experience frequent stress with the challenges of raising a child with DD and who may lack basic behavioral parenting skillsMoreoverthe proposed program has the potential to broadly impact the way supports are delivered to parents of children with DD by adding an integratedefficacious intervention that overcomes common barriers to parental participationtimefinancesand availabilityFrom a public health perspectivethis approach is ideally structured to meet the needs of this population of parents who are in need of easy to implement and cost effective support and trainingUpon completion in Phase IIparents will have access to a complete EPP programdesigned to help them cope with stress more effectively and strengthen their behavioral parenting skillsThe program will provide parents with engaginginteractive contentincludingtools for monitoring progresstext prompts and incentives to motivate behavior changea mechanism for the sharing of social supportguidance in setting effective value based goalsstrategies for reducing stressand training in evidence based parenting skillsThe EPP program will be available on a mobile website that can be accessed by smart phonestablets and computers and will provide realistic situational videos vignettesworkbook exercises and a discussion forum to help parents deal effectively with stress and challenging behaviorsIn Phase I of this projectwe will determine the feasibility of the program by examining primary and secondary outcomes related to a prototype of the EEP program!Project NarrativeCurrently available interventions for parents of children who have DD are either group based or require home visits which are expensive to implement and difficult to accessAndwhile there are a number of efficacious interventions that focus on either handling stress effectively or behavioral parent trainingeach approach alone has significant limitationsThere is a need for an integrated approach giving parents of children with DD low costimmediate access to the help and support they needThis project addresses a significant public health need by developing and evaluating a lowcostaccessible online integrated stress reduction and parent behavioral training program that can be easily implemented by parents in this population to reduce their stress and strengthen parenting skills