2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH
Preliminary results of a randomized-controlled trial of a behavioral parent training intervention for families with deaf or hard of hearing children
Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children are at risk for behavior problems but are less likely than peers with typical hearing to receive behavioral interventions. Although early diagnosis and treatment of hearing loss improve language development, improvements in behavior do not necessarily result from these interventions, potentially due to entrenched patterns of parent-child interactions. Even with standard hearing and speech interventions, parents of preschool-aged DHH children report high prevalence (50%) of behavioral concerns. Behavioral parent training (BPT) interventions have demonstrated effectiveness in reducing child behavior problems and improving parenting practices, but there is a significant gap in research on and delivery of behavioral interventions to parents of DHH children. Our team has completed the first year of recruitment, intervention delivery, and data collection in a hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial of an adapted BPT program, the Family Check-Up (FCU), modified to meet the needs of parents of young DHH children. Parent-child pairs are being recruited from hearing healthcare practices and randomized to either the adapted FCU program (the “FCU-DHH”) or a control group. FCU-DHH families receive up to 6 parent coaching sessions annually, focused on effective parenting strategies. The FCU-DHH coaches are parents of DHH children who completed FCU-DHH trainings and receive ongoing supervision. Enrolled families complete a battery of research assessments at baseline and every 6 months for up to 3 years, including standardized measures of parenting and child behaviors, parenting sense of competence, parent depression, parent motivation, parent-child interactions, and child language skills. Baseline, 6-month, and 12-month results will be reported for parent-child dyads (N~33) who will have completed these assessments as of March 2023. Preliminary results will focus on parent-child socio-demographics and secondary outcomes, i.e., parenting sense of competence, parent stress, parent depression symptoms, parent motivation for change, and parent satisfaction with the intervention (FCU-DHH only).
- Describe the FCU-DHH interventionists and the overall structure of the intervention.
- Compare outcomes between FCU-DHH families and control families.
- Describe parents’ satisfaction with the FCU-DHH program.
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Presenter: Grace Mullikin
Grace Mullikin is a student at the University of Kentucky participating in a 5-year Dual Bachelor's and Master's Program in Public Health. Ms. Mullikin has worked with Dr. Christina Studts’ research team for two semesters, assisting with quantitative and qualitative analyses of studies related to supporting families with deaf or hard of hearing children.
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Julie Jacobs, MPH, is a research director at the University of Kentucky, where she has worked for the past 8 years with Dr. Christina Studts on grant-funded projects that focus on increasing access to evidence-based interventions to address the needs of underserved populations, particularly for children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families. Ms. Jacobs earned her Master of Public Health degree at Saint Louis University in 2010, and she started her public health research career over 12 years ago at Washington University in St. Louis.
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No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.
Laura Bellnier, MPH, is a research associate at the University of Kentucky. Her work in hearing healthcare research began as a graduate assistant while pursuing her Master of Public Health at the University of Kentucky. Ms. Bellnier assists with several grant-funded projects that focus on increasing access to hearing health care and evidence-based interventions to improve health outcomes for children and adults who are deaf or hard of hearing. Prior to joining the University of Kentucky, Ms. Bellnier spent seven years providing educational access and affordable housing services to underserved families in Appalachia and Central Kentucky.
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• Receives Salary for Employment from University of Kentucky.
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No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.
Anthony Mahairas is a research assistant for the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Kentucky. He completed his Masters of Molecular Medicine at Liberty University. Anthony’s has research interests surrounding increasing access to quality healthcare among underserved communities. He currently works on several NIH-funded grants and other ongoing research projects in the department.
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Dr. Studts is an associate professor of pediatrics and implementation scientist in the Adult & Child Consortium for Health Outcomes Research & Delivery Science (ACCORDS) at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Her research focuses on increasing access to evidence-based parenting interventions among understudied and underserved populations, including parents of young children who are deaf or hard of hearing and who use hearing aids or cochlear implants. In addition to leading her own program of community-engaged research, Dr. Studts serves as an implementation scientist on teams studying the adoption and sustained use of evidence-based practices in a variety of topical areas, and she directs and teaches in the Dissemination and Implementation Graduate Certificate Program at the University of Colorado.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
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Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.