Barriers and facilitators in home based problem behavior interventions for children

Pages: 345-351
S. Venkatesan (Department of Clinical Psychology, All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Manasagangothri, Mysore)

Research on home based problem behavior interventions is scarce in Indian settings. This cross sectional random survey aims to identify barriers or facilitators in parent mediated problem behavior interventions for their children. Targeting 78 children between 3-12 years, data was collected as frequency counts of felt, expressed or reported nature, type and extent of challenges, difficulties and issues by respective parents as therapeutic agents. Among their listed 36 types of 918 difficulties, 21 types of 507 issues are linked to service recipients themselves, followed by those viewed as due to the intervention process (Types, 10; N, 293) and few attributed to problems in service providers (Types, 5; N, 118). Disagreements between parents in prioritizing problem behaviors, perception that behavior intervention programs are time consuming, that there is minimal support from spouse and family, or that they expect instantaneous solutions are the most serious barriers. Some parents express hardships in record keeping, admit to pressure of daily routine in caring their unaffected children, the long wait involved in securing appointment from service providers, and the burden of travelling to avail professional help. Follow up and maintenance efforts during planning behavior interventions must necessarily take note of these findings to optimize positive developments in children.