Brown, F. L., Whittingham, K., Boyd, R. N., McKinlay, L., & Sofronoff, K. (2015). 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. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 73, 58-66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2015.07.001
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.