Parent-focused group schema coaching program for parents of adolescents with anorexia nervosa: Intervention mapping study
Development of carefree protocol
Keywords:
Adolescents, Anorexia Nervosa, Parents, Program DevelopmentAbstract
BACKGROUND: Given the pivotal role of parents in the recovery of adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN), the current study aimed to describe the intervention mapping (IM) approach used to develop and implement a novel parent-focused group schema coaching protocol (online CAREFREE program) for parents of adolescents with AN in Iran, and also to determine its content validity and acceptability.
METHODS: The IM methodology was applied for the systematic development of the online CAREFREE program, consisting of 6 steps: carrying out needs assessment, identifying objectives, intervention design, intervention production, implementation plan, and evaluation plan. The whole procedure took 2 years, from January 2021 to January 2023. The content validity of the protocol was assessed through a panel of experts (n = 6). The acceptability of the intervention was evaluated by the CAREFREE Treatment Satisfaction Rating Scale by the parents (n = 19) in 3 intervention groups.
RESULTS: The results for each IM step were established sequentially in a narrative format. The overall content validity of the modules was high. The mean CVR was 0.99, and the S-CVI was 0.94. The mean scores in each intervention group showed that all the groups reported high satisfaction with the CAREFREE program. Total acceptability mean scores in mid-treatment and post-treatment were 9.31 and 9.63, respectively.
CONCLUSION: The CAREFREE intervention using the IM approach demonstrated high content validity and acceptability. The findings from this study may be particularly useful for other intervention developers in the field of pediatric eating disorders in Iran.
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