Effects of video-feedback intervention on harmonious parent-child interaction and sensitive discipline of parents with intellectual disabilities: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background: This study tested whether video-feedback intervention based on attachment and coercion theory increased harmonious parent-child interaction and sensitive discipline of parents with mild intellectual disabilities or borderline intellectual functioning.

Methods: Observer ratings of video-recorded structured interaction tasks at home formed pretest, post-test, and 3-month follow-up outcome data in a randomized controlled trial with 85 families. Repeated measures analyses of variance and covariance were conducted to test for the intervention effect and possible moderation by IQ and adaptive functioning.

Results: The intervention effect on harmonious parent-child interaction was conditional on parental social adaptive behaviour at pretest, with lower adaptive functioning associated with stronger intervention benefit at post-test and follow-up compared to care as usual. Intervention effects were not conditional on parental IQ. Intervention effects for sensitive discipline were not found.

Conclusion: Although the video-feedback intervention did not affect observed parenting for the average parent, it may benefit interaction between children and parents with lower parental adaptive functioning.

Keywords: mild intellectual disability; parent-child interactions; parenting; randomized controlled trial; sensitivity; video-feedback intervention.