Engaging Parents of Lower-Socioeconomic Positions in Internet- and Mobile-Based Interventions for Youth Mental Health: A Qualitative Investigation.

Grace Broomfield,Catherine Wade,Marie B H Yap

doi:10.3390/ijerph18179087

Abstract

Growing literature supports the use of internet- and mobile-based interventions (IMIs) targeting parenting behaviours to prevent child and adolescent mental health difficulties. However, parents of lower-socioeconomic positions (SEP) are underserved by these interventions. To avoid contributing to existing mental health inequalities, additional efforts are needed to understand the engagement needs of lower-SEP parents. This study qualitatively explored lower-SEP parents’ perspectives on how program features could facilitate their engagement in IMIs for youth mental health. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 16 lower-SEP parents of children aged 0–18 to identify important program features. Participants were mostly female (81.3%) and aged between 26 and 56 years. Transcriptions were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Twenty-three modifiable program features important to lower-SEP parents’ engagement in IMIs were identified. These features aligned with one of three overarching themes explaining their importance to parents’ willingness to engage: (1) It will help my child; (2) I feel like I can do it; (3) It can easily fit into my life. The relative importance of program features varied based on parents’ specific social and economic challenges. These findings offer initial directions for program developers in optimising IMIs to overcome barriers to engagement for lower-SEP parents.

Highlights

Emotional and behavioural problems are a leading cause of disability in children and adolescents worldwide [1], making the prevention of these difficulties a major public health priority [2,3]
Lower-socioeconomic positions (SEP) parents are underserved by preventive parenting internet- and mobile-based parenting interventions (IMIs) [3,59,60], which is concerning as lower-SEP young people are at an elevated risk of mental health difficulties [23,24,25]
This study provides insights into how specific features of IMIs can be adapted to increase reach among this population and why these features may be important to lower-SEP parents

Summary

Introduction

Emotional and behavioural problems are a leading cause of disability in children and adolescents worldwide [1], making the prevention of these difficulties a major public health priority [2,3]. Parents of lower-socioeconomic positions (SEP) are underserved by parenting programs aimed at preventing and alleviating child and adolescent mental health problems, as these parents are less likely to enrol or engage in parenting programs compared to higher-SEP parents [3,4,5,6]. To address this inequity, additional efforts are needed to understand how programs can better meet the needs of socially and economically disadvantaged parents [3,7,8,9]. The present study has chosen a broad definition of child and adolescent mental health

Results

Discussion

Conclusion