A Pilot Study Examining a School-Based Parent Engagement Intervention Following School Mental Health Screening

In this pilot study, we conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine the effects of a school-based engagement intervention on parent adherence to recommendations for children screened for social, emotional, behavioral, and adaptive problems at kindergarten entry. The aims were to evaluate the impact of an enhanced feedback session on parents’ adherence to service-engagement recommendations, compared to a standard feedback session, and to examine predictors of adherence to recommendations. Parent and teacher reports of the behavior assessment system for children, second edition, were used to screen children ( N = 597). Parents of children identified as at risk for social, emotional, behavioral, and adaptive problems were randomized to the standard or enhanced feedback condition. Results offer preliminary evidence that the school-based engagement strategy following the screening resulted in increased parent adherence to sharing screening results with medical doctors. Analyses also revealed that after controlling for feedback condition, parents’ previous service use predicted adherence to the recommendation of sharing screening results with the teachers. These findings highlight the importance of continued examination of school-based engagement interventions for families in the early stages of seeking mental health services.