Date of Award:

12-2019

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Psychology

Committee Chair(s)

Melanie M. Domenech Rodríguez

Committee

Melanie M. Domenech Rodríguez

Committee

Maryellen McClain Verdoes

Committee

Gretchen Gimpel Peacock

Committee

Melissa Tehee

Committee

Tyra Sellers

Abstract

Technology and psychological treatments have increasingly been used together to increase the reach of psychotherapy and potentially reduce treatment costs. This research focused on how technology has been used to deliver or facilitate treatments focused on behavioral parent training. Behavioral parent training is a research-supported method of improving parenting skills and child behavior. We first reviewed any existing research on the topic, and found that treatments that used technology to teach parenting skills were generally successful at improving parent and child behavior. The review also identified many research questions that have yet to be answered about the cost of such interventions, how they work with diverse groups of people, and what makes someone likely to stay with the treatment. The next study in this research project tested a shortened version of a technology-based treatment adapted from a group-based manual that was created for Spanish-speaking families. The program was called Padres Preparados Online (Prepared Parents Online), and it taught three parenting skills on a system that was available online or using an app. Parent coaching, typically carried out in in-person groups or on the phone, was also conducted online. Parents uploaded videos of themselves to an online system and the therapist would record and post video, audio, and text coaching comments to support parents in strengthening the skills they were learning. Results showed that parents and children improved in a variety of ways, ranging from decreased problematic child behavior to decreased parenting stress. This study demonstrated that technology can be used to deliver a parenting program to Latinx families, and helped the study team identify limitations and questions for future research.

This research was financially supported by the Utah State University Psychology Department and Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services.

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