Telehealth is a promising means for expanding access to mental health treatment. Yet, more research is needed to ensure that telehealth service delivery is no less effective than in-person treatment in real-world service delivery contexts. In the current study, we compared telehealth delivery of the GenerationPMTO parenting intervention to in-person delivery in the context of the public mental health system. Using a noninferiority approach with a sample of n = 1452 caregivers, we found telehealth delivery to be noninferior to in-person delivery on all caregiver outcomes: parenting practices, parenting confidence, and caregiver depressive symptoms. We were unable to conclude that telehealth delivery was noninferior to in-person delivery for child behavior problems. Our findings add to the literature suggesting the utility of using telehealth to provide services to families-particularly for delivering evidence-based parenting interventions to enhance caregiver outcomes. Implications for couple and family therapy are discussed.
Keywords: GenerationPMTO; noninferiority; parenting intervention; public mental health system; telehealth.
© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Marital and Family Therapy published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.