• Soeun Lee, Bruce D Dick, Abbie Jordan, and McMurtryC MeghanCMDepartment of Psychology, University of Guelph, Guelph.Pediatric Chronic Pain Program, McMaster Children's Hospital, Hamilton.Children's Health Research Institute and Department of Pediatrics, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, L.
• Department of Psychology, University of Guelph, Guelph.
• Clin J Pain. 2023 Mar 1; 39 (3): 127137127-137.

ObjectivesParents play integral roles in their youth's chronic pain and can experience elevated distress related to caregiving. This study examined a cognitive-behavior therapy-based parent-targeted group intervention, including understudied/novel resilience/risk (eg, distress, parenting self-regulation), and compared the effect of in-person versus virtual delivery format.Hypotheses(1) Adequate feasibility and acceptability (enrolment>33%, attendance >60%, attrition <25%, satisfaction ratings >90%), with higher indicators of feasibility in the virtual groups; (2) Significant improvements in parent psychological flexibility, protectiveness, distress, and parenting self-regulation at posttreatment that were maintained at follow-up, with no difference between delivery type.MethodsParents were enroled from an outpatient pediatric chronic pain clinic and participated in the group intervention in-person or virtually; questionnaires were completed at baseline, posttreatment, and 3-month follow-up.ResultsEnrolment (55% in-person, 65% virtual) and attendance (86% in-person, 93% virtual) were higher, and attrition was lower than expected (4% in-person, 7% virtual). Satisfaction was high (4.95/5 in-person, 4.85/5 virtual); on written feedback, parents enjoyed connecting with other parents (27/56, 48%) the most. The least preferred were the virtual format (5/36, 14%) and timing of the group (6/52, 12%). There were no differences between delivery formats in feasibility/acceptability. The intervention significantly improved parents' psychological flexibility, protectiveness, distress, and parenting self-regulation over time. A small group difference favored the in-person format for psychological flexibility, and an interaction effect for parenting self-regulation was found.DiscussionThis standalone parent-targeted group intervention had positive effects on parent outcomes delivered either in-person or virtually.Copyright © 2023 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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