An online family intervention to reduce parental distress following pediatric brain injury

Abstract

This study examined whether an online problem-solving intervention could improve parental adjustment following pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI). Families of children with moderate-to-severe TBI were recruited from the trauma registry of a large children's hospital and randomly assigned to receive online family problem solving therapy (FPS; n = 20) or Internet resources (IRC; n = 20) in addition to usual care. The FPS group reported significantly less global distress, depressive symptoms, and anxiety at follow-up than did the IRC group after controlling for baseline symptoms. The FPS group also reported significant improvements in problem-solving skills, although the groups did not differ significantly at follow-up. Findings suggest that an online, skill-building approach can be effective in facilitating parental adaptation after TBI.