Using behavior contracts to improve behavior of children and adolescents in multiple settings

Web-Based Parent Training in Parents with Adolescents Admitted to Psychiatric Residential Treatment: A Mixed-Methods Study

Despite intensive treatment, adolescents discharged from residential treatment (RT) often do not maintain treatment gains in the community. Providing support and education to caregivers through parent training may ameliorate the loss of treatment gains. Successful parent training programs have been delivered to this population; however, these interventions were delivered in-person, posing significant barriers affecting reach, access, and engagement. A convergent mixed methods design was used to assess the acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of a web-based parent training in a sample of parents (N = 20) with adolescents admitted to RT. Parents completed two interviews and an end-of-program survey. Parents completed at least 80% of the assigned modules and felt that PW was easy to use and that the features facilitated learning. Parents reported practicing the skills in their daily lives and found it beneficial to have a partner to practice with. Consistent with previous studies, parents perceived the delivery method as a strength because the web-based delivery circumvented multiple known barriers to in-person interventions. A large subset of parents related to the scenarios, while a small subset of parents felt the modules were challenging to relate to because of the severity of their adolescent's mental health challenges. Overall, findings indicate that web-based parent training programs may be an acceptable, appropriate, and feasible adjuvant evidence-based support. However, tailoring the intervention content is necessary to create a more relatable intervention that captures the breadth and severity of mental health challenges adolescents in RT face.

Parent–Teacher Interactions during COVID-19: Experiences of U.S. Teachers of Students with Severe Disabilities

In 2020, COVID-19 disrupted all aspects of society across the globe including healthcare, employment, social interactions, and education. In many parts of the world, abrupt school closures caught teachers off guard, as they were forced to immediately shift their practices from in-person to online instruction with little-to-no preparation. Furthermore, during this time, many parents of school-aged children vacillated between multiple roles associated with their employment, household caregiving activities, and supporting their children at home. These challenges were especially challenging for teachers and parents of students with severe disabilities. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of U.S. teachers of students with severe disabilities regarding interacting with parents during the COVID-19 pandemic, including when schools initially closed in March 2020 and then reopened in September of 2020. This manuscript outlines six key themes highlighting parent–teacher interactions: (a) parents directing school decisions, (b) teacher inability to meet parent expectations, (c) parent–teacher communication, (d) parents as teachers, (e) parent exhaustion, and (f) teacher helplessness.