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ViewAttendees 5

Symposia

Parenting / Families

Modern Parenting: Reconceptualizing Parent-Focused Treatment

3 - (SYM 31) Meeting Parents Where They Are: Initial Acceptability of a Parent Training Smartphone Application with Dynamic, Personalized Support

Saturday, November 22, 2025
10:48 AM - 11:09 AM CST
Location: Empire C, Level 2
Keywords: Parenting, Parent Training, Externalizing
Recommended Readings: Dekkers, T. J., Chacko, A., & Lebowitz, M. S. (2025). The usual suspects and beyond–decontextualization as explanation for the suboptimal uptake of parenting interventions. Child and adolescent mental health, 30(1), 1-3.,   Chacko, A., Jensen, S. A., Lowry, L. S., Cornwell, M., Chimklis, A., Chan, E., ... & Pulgarin, B. (2016). Engagement in behavioral parent training: Review of the literature and implications for practice. Clinical child and family psychology review, 19, 204-215.,   Mertens, E., Ye, G., Beuckels, E., & Hudders, L. (2024). Parenting information on social media: Systematic literature review. JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting, 7(1), http://doi.org/10.2196/55372,   ,  
Abstract Body
The impact of behavioral parent training (BPT) in the community is attenuated by poor transportability and need for high therapist involvement in standard treatment. The magnitude of treatment need is far beyond the capacity of the current mental health care system. For example, BPT is an evidence-based treatment for childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) which affects about 10% of children in the United States. Despite being a first-line treatment for ADHD, only about one third of children with ADHD have received BPT in their lifetime (Danielson et al., 2018). Even within controlled trials, over 30% of families drop out before the first treatment session (Chacko et al., 2016).
Based on the high treatment need, evidence-based treatments need to be modified to improve scalability, appropriateness, and engagement. Technology- delivered interventions, and specifically mHealth applications, can overcome this gap as 81% of Americans own a smartphone (Pew Research Center, 2019), and many minoritized and low-income individuals rely on smartphones for internet access. Further, parents of children with ADHD experience heightened stress (Johnston & Chronis-Tuscano, 2014), and providing asynchronous intervention reduces travel burden and allows for flexible intervention timing and personalized supportive feedback.
The development process for a smartphone-based, self-directed intervention that incorporates just-in-time adaptive intervention components will be presented. Parents access high-quality, evidence-based parent training content as well as real-time, personalized automated feedback during parent/child interactions. Prior to development, parents provided detailed information regarding their needs, preferences, and perceptions of the intervention technology. Key findings from stakeholders will be discussed. Further, we will present initial findings regarding acceptability and usability of the smartphone-delivered intervention based on the completed pilot trial. Implications for treatment reach, personalization, and equity will be discussed.