Parent Satisfaction with a School Mental Health Program: Predictors and Impacts on Parental Involvement

Introduction: Schools are a critical provider of mental health services for children (Farmer et al, 2003). However, school-based services raise challenges to parent involvement in their children’s treatment, which has been shown to enhance program effectiveness (Villodas et al., 2013). Parent involvement can be impacted by several factors, including their satisfaction with the treatment for their child (Staudt, 2007). To inform methods for enhancing involvement, we examined 1) factors that predict parent satisfaction with an evidence-based small group program for children with self-regulation difficulties delivered by clinical research staff and school counselors, and 2) how satisfaction is related to involvement, including support for children’s use of skills at home, parent calls with service providers, and meeting attendance.

Methods: Parents of 43 1^st-2^nd graders who participated in the Incredible Years® Dina Dinosaur Program completed a satisfaction questionnaire (additional data from 20+ parents to be collected April 2018). Parent involvement was measured via number of phone calls with group leaders and percentage of parent meetings attended of 2-3 scheduled. Data were examined as part of an ongoing randomized controlled trial in 11 elementary schools with a culturally diverse, low income sample.

Results: Parent satisfaction with the program was related to their perceptions of their child’s improvement, relationship with group leaders, and parenting strategies gained (r’s> .54), but not to their relationship with the school. Multiple regression indicated that the first three factors predicted 76% of the variance in satisfaction (R² = .76, F [3,22] = 27.29, p < .001), with the majority of variance attributed to perceived child improvement (β = .60, p<.01). Satisfaction was related to higher parent meeting attendance (r = .46) but lower home skill reinforcement (r = -.61), although rates of home skill support were quite low (17%). Parental skill support at home was unrelated to meeting attendance or phone contacts with group leaders.

Conclusion: Parent satisfaction with a school mental health program was related to therapeutic relationship and parents’ skill gains in addition to perceived child progress. Satisfaction was also associated with parent meeting attendance, reflecting the importance of establishing therapeutic relationships and supporting parents’ own skills even when programs are focused primarily on teaching skills to children. School mental health programs should consider multiple aspects of parent satisfaction to enhance involvement, including those that may facilitate parent reinforcement of skills at home.