Resourcefulness Intervention Efficacy for Parent Caregivers of Technology-Dependent Children: A Randomized Trial.
Valerie Boebel Toly, Jaclene A Zauszniewski, Jiao Yu and 3 others
PMID 34965784WHAT IT FOUND
Parents of children using home medical technology who received resourcefulness training reported fewer negative thoughts and better physical health over 6 months.
Depressive symptoms and family functioning showed no clear improvement. The training included several components, so a single part cannot be credited.
Key findings
01Compared with attention control, the resourcefulness arm had lower depressive cognitions (p=0.03) and better physical health (p=0.01) over time after adjustment.
02There was no statistically significant improvement in depressive symptoms or family functioning for the intervention compared with attention control.
03Only half of the intervention arm completed the study.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
In the intervention arm, 4 withdrew before the intervention, 5 were lost to follow-up, and 11 withdrew after the first session. Only half of that arm completed the study. In the control arm, 3 participants were lost to follow-up. Baseline education was uneven, with 27.7% versus 43.5% holding a bachelor's degree in the control and intervention arms. Some parents could not be reached within one month after randomization. Daily hard-copy journaling was difficult for some parents, and missing data occurred when children were rehospitalised or parents focused on caregiving. The study was done in one region of the United States and enrolled few fathers. The intervention had no effect on family functioning, and the paper does not know whether that reflects stable family patterns or an insensitive measure.
Declared interests
No author conflict statement is included. The article is tagged as NIH extramural research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that Resourcefulness Training alone caused the improvements. The intervention included face-to-face teaching, an intervention video, parent vignettes, discussion, daily log writing, website access, weekly phone calls, and boosters, and the paper does not separate these components. Do not read the lower depressive symptoms at 6 months as proof the intervention works, because that outcome was not statistically significant.