The Impact of Parent Training on the Child's Health Services

Pediatric health services utilization (pHSU) by children with mental health conditions demonstrated dramatic increases between 2006 and 2011. These national trends reflecting large increases in pHSU for mental health conditions were seen across multiple developmental levels. Health services costs for children with mental health conditions are estimated to be twice those for the average child. The Incredible Years® Parent Program (IY) has a strong evidence-base supporting its effectiveness in reducing early onset conduct problems. The overall objective of this stage 3 (T3) translational research proposal is to conduct a pilot study of 45 pediatrician-referred parents who participate in IY and examine the impact of IY on pHSU of their children. Pediatric HSU outcome measures include: all-cause ED visits; in-patient hospitalizations and length of stay; authorizations for specialist referrals; primary and acute care visits; and ED visits for mental health conditions. The investigator's central hypothesis is that children ages 3 to 6 years with behavior concerns whose parents are referred by their pediatricians for participation in IY will have decreased mean annual all-cause pHSU and decreased ED visits for mental health conditions in the 12 months following IY, compared to the 24 months prior to IY participation. This is important to demonstrate because significant financial barriers exist to integrating effective family focused prevention services like IY into pediatric primary care settings. Demonstration of reduced pHSU is one way to address these translational barriers. Results of this pilot study are expected to provide preliminary data on pre- and post-intervention effect sizes; these data will be used to demonstrate the feasibility of collecting data using existing sources of pHSU to design a more fully powered multi-site trial with a robust comparator group.