Objective:
Pediatric feeding disorder (PFD) is a common condition for young children and can cause stress among parents. However, there are no parent psychosocial interventions that have been tested for efficacy in this population. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) holds great promise for addressing parent stress among parents of children with PFD. In the present case report, we describe the application of ACT with a parent of a child with PFD, with a focus on parent and child outcomes and parent-reported implementation barriers and facilitators.
Method:
The mother of a young child with PFD completed six sessions of ACT focused on the stress she was experiencing related to her child’s feeding issues. Treatment was offered in the context of her child’s PFD treatment setting, and sessions were held over telehealth.
Results:
This mother’s stress improved from high to average over the course of treatment, using the Parental Stress Scale. The majority of her improvements in stress were following the first two sessions. She also reported qualitative benefits related to her parenting, her child’s feeding, and her general well-being. She reported several facilitators of treatment, including the flexibility offered throughout treatment the use of telehealth, and acknowledgment of her experiences. She reported barriers including mental health stigma, time constraints, and childcare.
Conclusions:
Brief treatment of parental stress, offered in a pediatric treatment setting is feasible to implement and may have clinical utility in supporting families of children with PFD or other medical conditions.
Implications for Impact Statement
We used acceptance and commitment therapy, which is a specific type of mental health talk therapy, with a parent of a child with pediatric feeding disorder who was experiencing stress. This parent found the therapy helpful, and her ratings of stress improved from before to after therapy. This type of therapy may be helpful for other parents of children with pediatric feeding disorder and high stress.
