Does Stepping Stones Triple P plus Acceptance and Commitment Therapy improve parent, couple, and family adjustment following paediatric acquired brain injury? A randomised controlled trial. (October 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Brown, Felicity L.; Whittingham, Koa; Boyd, Roslyn N.; McKinlay, Lynne; Sofronoff, Kate
• Is Part Of: Behaviour research and therapy. Volume 73(2015)
• Page Start: 58
• Page End: 66
• Publication Date: 2015-10
• Subjects: Acquired brain injury -- Behavioural family intervention -- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy -- Randomised controlled trial -- Parenting; AAABIQ Acceptance and Action ABI Questionnaire -- ABI Acquired Brain Injury -- ACT Acceptance and Commitment Therapy -- ASD Autism Spectrum Disorder -- CAU Care as Usual -- CI Confidence Interval -- DASS Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale -- EA Experiential Avoidance -- ES Effect Size -- FAD McMaster Family Assessment Device -- GCS Glasgow Coma Scale -- ITT Intention to Treat -- M Mean -- MDiff Mean Difference -- MMRM Mixed-Model Repeated Measures -- NA Not Applicable -- PPC Parent Problem Checklist -- PTC Parenting Task Checklist -- PTFQ Parent Thoughts and Feelings Questionnaire -- RCT Randomised Controlled Trial -- RQI Relationship Quality Index -- SD Standard Deviation -- SE Standard Error -- SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences -- SSTP Stepping Stones Triple P -- TBI Traumatic Brain Injury -- Triple P Positive Parenting Program; Cognitive therapy -- Periodicals; Psychotherapy -- Periodicals; 616.891
• DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2015.07.001
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0005-7967

Abstract

Abstract: Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of a behavioural family intervention, Stepping Stones Triple P (SSTP), combined with an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) workshop in improving parent, family and couple outcomes following paediatric acquired brain injury (ABI). Participants and setting: Fifty-nine parents (90% mothers) of children (mean age 7 years; 35 males, 24 females) with ABI. Intervention: Participants were randomly assigned to a treatment (10-week group SSTP and ACT program) or a care-as-usual (CAU) control condition (10 weeks). Those in the CAU condition received the treatment after the waitlist period. Outcomes: Self-report measures of parent psychological distress, parent psychological flexibility, parenting confidence, family functioning, and couple relationship, assessed at: pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 6-months post-intervention. Results: Post-intervention, the treatment group showed significant, small to medium improvements relative to the CAU group (at the p < .05 level) on parent psychological distress, parent psychological flexibility, parent confidence in managing behaviours, family adjustment, and number of disagreements between parents. Most improvements were maintained at 6-months. Conclusions: Parent skills training and ACT may be efficacious in improving parent, family, and couple outcomes in families of children with an ABI. Highlights: We trialed a parenting intervention for parents of children with acquired brain injury. The intervention led to improvements on parent, family, and couple outcomes. Most improvements were maintained for at least 6-months post-intervention.