Assessing the impact of an Internet-based parenting intervention for mothers with psychiatric disabilities: A randomized controlled trial

Purpose: To develop an intervention that fills the gap in supports designed to address the needs for parents with a serious mental illness (SMI). Objective: To examine the effectiveness of an Internet education and support intervention that seeks to enhance parental efficacy and skills, improve coping skills, decrease parental distress and increase social support among mothers with a SMI as compared to mothers in the control condition, who receive an Internet healthy lifestyles intervention. Design: Internal pilot, randomized controlled trial with two time points at baseline and 3-months post-baseline at the termination of experiential educational lessons. Standardized measures were employed to assess outcomes. Participants: Sixty mothers diagnosed with a Schizophrenia Spectrum or an Affective Disorder who have primary/shared custody for at least one child under the age of 18. Intervention: Participants were randomized into one of two conditions: 1) Experimental Condition, participation in the online parental education course and a Listserv co-moderated by a parent with a mental illness and a mental health professional, and 2) Control Condition, participation in online education healthy lifestyle course. Analysis: Using an intent-to-treat approach group differences over time were assessed using two-tailed independent samples t-test on all dependent variables including: parental efficacy, skills, coping, support and stress between baseline and three months. Results: Participation in an online parenting intervention for mothers with a SMI enhanced parenting skills (t= -1.7, df= 43, p= .10, d= .49), improved coping skills (t= -2.43, df= 40, p= .02, d= .23) and decreased parental stress (t= -2.2, df= 28, p= .04, d= .52;t= -1.65, df= 45, p= .11, d= .46) . However, we found no support for improved efficacy or support. Conclusion: This internal pilot study establishes that mothers with a SMI are interested in and capable of receiving online parenting education and support. Findings demonstrate that an online parenting intervention can improve parenting and coping skills and decrease parental stress. This study provides a solid foundation for building the knowledge base of effective supports and services for parents with a SMI. Furthermore, this intervention can serve as a potentially valuable resource to social workers with limited provider burden