A Single-Session Intervention Designed to Promote Resilience for Parents of Children with Disabilities

• Published in: Journal of child and family studies 2023-08, Vol.32 (8), p.2406-2418
• Main Authors: VanVoorhis, Richard W., Miller, Kenneth L., Miller, Susan M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anxiety; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Brief interventions; Caregivers; Child and School Psychology; Children with disabilities; Control Groups; Depression (Psychology); Disability; Emotional distress; Family relations; Intervention; Mental depression; Original Paper; Parental depression; Parenthood education; Parents; Parents & parenting; Pretests Posttests; Psychoeducational treatment; Psychological distress; Psychological functioning; Psychology; Replication (Evaluation); Research Design; Resilience; Resilience (Psychology); Self Efficacy; Social Sciences; Sociology; Stress; Well being
• ISSN: 1062-1024; 1573-2843
• DOI: 10.1007/s10826-023-02622-z

The use of psychoeducational interventions with parents of children diagnosed with a disability has been found to be effective in promoting parental well-being and improving family functioning. Such interventions typically require multiple sessions which, although well-meaning, impose time burdens on frequently overwhelmed parents. Research on brief interventions has shown promise for both children and adults in reducing emotional distress and improving psychological functioning. This study sought to assess the efficacy of a single-session intervention designed to reduce emotional distress and improve resilience among parents with a child diagnosed with a low-incidence disability. Results supported the efficacy of a single-session intervention for these parents. Twenty-six parents/primary caregivers of children diagnosed with low-incidence disabilities participated in a single-session intervention, a 5.5-hour psychoeducation workshop, to determine effects on measures of parental depression, anxiety, and stress, resilience, self-efficacy, and well-being. Comparisons of pretest-posttest mean scores revealed statistically significant differences on six of eight measures, all in an improved direction (i.e., lower posttest levels on measures of anxiety and stress, and higher posttest levels on measures of resilience, self-efficacy, and well-being). Positive post-workshop evaluation ratings also support the value of this intervention for parents. A description of workshop methods and content is provided to facilitate study replication. Authors discuss strategies for using brief, interactive, and resource-based psychoeducational parent training sessions to benefit families of children with disabilities. Highlights A single-session intervention resulted in improved psychological-emotional outcomes for parents with a child with a disability; Findings included improved self-efficacy, well-being, and resilience and reduced anxiety and stress, but not depression; Results of this study suggest the value of replication using a pre-post, control group, experimental design; An unanticipated outcome was the degree to which participants created opportunities to develop strong emotional bonds.