What Happens When Families Start Parent Training in Positive Parenting or Effective Discipline? Preliminary Outcomes from Flexible Service Delivery in a Hospital Setting

The present study explored whether caregiver engagement and family outcomes from a behavioral parent training (BPT) program differed based on which BPT module parents received first in a real-world pragmatic design. Caregivers (N = 140) seeking early childhood mental health care for their 3-to-7-year-old children were offered a BPT program adapted for accessibility at a large children’s hospital. Group attendance and parent-reported satisfaction did not significantly differ based on which module caregivers started BPT. Parenting confidence, parenting stress, and children’s disruptive behaviors improved similarly regardless of which module caregivers started BPT.