Graduation Year

2020

Document Type

Ed. Specalist

Degree

Ed.S.

Degree Name

Education Specialist (Ed.S.)

Degree Granting Department

Psychology

Major Professor

Kathy Bradley-Klug, Ph.D.

Co-Major Professor

Heather Agazzi, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Rose Iovannone, Ph.D.

Committee Member

John Ferron, Ph.D.

Keywords

caregiver attendance, HOT DOCS, DOCS K-5

Abstract

This quantitative study sought to analyze caregivers’ perspectives regarding facilitators of, and barriers to, attending the behavioral parent training programs (BPTs) known as Helping Our Toddlers, Developing Our Children’s Skills (HOT DOCS) and Developing Our Children’s Skills K-5 (DOCS K-5). Participants included 43 caregivers who successfully completed their respective DOCS program. These caregivers answered two questionnaires which contained items addressing demographic variables (i.e., gender, race, ethnicity, household income, level of education, number of children, and program attendance) and logistic factors of the DOCS programs (i.e., course location, class length, time of day, course duration, availability of transportation, availability of childcare). Descriptive statistics revealed that participants found the course location, the time of day during which the course was offered, the course duration, and the availability of transportation to be facilitators to attending classes. By contrast, participants found the lack of childcare to be a barrier to attending classes. The Kruskal-Wallis examined relationships between demographic characteristics and perceptions of facilitators and barriers. Results indicated a statistically significant relationship between caregivers’ gender and the course location, with males finding the course location to be a greater barrier than females. In addition, caregivers’ number of children demonstrated a significant relationship with the time of day during which the course was offered, with caregivers with one child finding the time of day to be more of a facilitator. Finally, caregivers’ attendance rate had a significant relationship with the course duration, with caregivers who attended all classes finding the course duration to be more of a facilitator. The results of this study may be beneficial in improving efforts of BPTs to increase treatment engagement of caregivers.

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