The Efficacy of Technology-Enhanced Behavioral Parent Training for Families With Low Income: Do Parent-Centered Profiles Moderate Treatment Outcomes?

Behavior disorders (BDs) in children are common and have long-term impacts. Financially disadvantaged families are at a greater risk of having a child with an early-onset BD but have more difficulty engaging in and therefore benefiting from behavior parent training (BPT). Building upon the potential of technology-enhanced (TE) treatment approaches in addressing barriers to treatment engagement and effectiveness, TE to one BPT program, Helping the Noncompliant Child (HNC), were tested in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with 101 families with low income. The current study aimed to examine for whom TE-HNC versus standard HNC is optimal at posttreatment by exploring how pretreatment, parent-centered profiles may moderate parenting and child outcomes at posttreatment. Latent profile analyses yielded four distinct parent-centered profiles. The profile membership differentially predicted treatment outcomes by group for positive and negative parenting, as well as child behavior intensity, but not child problem behavior. The heterogeneity of responses to standard relative to TE treatment models among underserved families may provide clues regarding the future personalization of BPT toward improved treatment efficacy.