The Dissemination of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy in West Virginia during the Opioid Epidemic and COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study.

The devastating impact of the opioid crisis on children and families in West Virginia was compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and brought to light the critical need for greater mental health services and providers in the state. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is an evidence-based treatment for child externalizing symptoms that teaches parents positive and appropriate strategies to manage child behaviors. The current qualitative study details barriers and facilitators to disseminating and implementing PCIT with opioid-impacted families across West Virginia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therapists (n = 34) who participated in PCIT training and consultation through a State Opioid Response grant were asked to provide data about their experiences with PCIT training, consultation, and implementation. Almost all therapists (91%) reported barriers to telehealth PCIT (e.g., poor internet connection, unpredictability of sessions). Nearly half of therapists' cases (45%) were impacted directly by parental substance use. Qualitative findings about the impact of telehealth and opioid use on PCIT implementation are presented. The dissemination and implementation of PCIT in a state greatly impacted by poor telehealth capacity and the opioid epidemic differed from the implementation of PCIT training and treatment delivery in other states, highlighting the critical importance of exploring implementation factors in rural settings.

Establishing Norms on the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory to Identify Disruptive Behaviors in Taiwanese Children.

Like other cultures, measures to accurately and sensitively assess and treat disruptive behaviors in Taiwanese children are necessary. This research provides normative and psychometric data (i.e., item-total correlations, split-half coefficients, internal consistency, and internal validity) on the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI), including clinical cut-off scores, with a Taiwanese community sample. The results suggest that the ECBI may be helpful in screening for disruptive behaviors in Taiwanese children, which may allow for appropriate prevention and intervention efforts. Although results are comparable to other research, cultural differences do exist, thereby highlighting the importance of cultural considerations in assessing child behavior, irrespective of country of treatment.

Preliminary Validity of the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory with Taiwanese Clinic-Referred Children.

The Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI) has previously been shown to be a psychometrically sound instrument used to assess disruptive behaviors in children in the United States and in other cultures/countries but not in Taiwan. The purpose of this study was to examine the factor structure and to establish the discriminative validity of the ECBI with two groups of Taiwanese children: 70 clinic-referred children with clinically elevated externalizing behavior problems and 70 community-based matched comparison children. Exploratory factor analyses resulted in a six-factor model for the clinic-referred sample and a five-factStrengths and Difficultieor model for the matched comparison sample, indicating that the ECBI is not unidimensional. Adequate convergent and divergent validity also were established between the ECBI Intensity and Problem Scales and another measure of child externalizing (for assessing convergent validity) and internalizing (for determining divergent validity) behavior. The results of the present study suggest that the ECBI is a valid measure of assessing externalizing behavior problems in Taiwanese children. Future research may seek to refine the factor structure of the ECBI in a Taiwanese sample. Future studies are also needed to examine other psychometrics of the ECBI, replicate this study with a larger sample, and establish its normative data in Taiwan.