(PS6-D94) Caregiver Attitudes Toward Digital Mental Health Interventions and Therapy: Exploring Support Systems for Children Impacted by Caregiver Substance Use

Substance use disorders (SUDs) impact 20.4 million people in the United States (SAMHSA, 2019). The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the struggles that this population may face, including higher rates of overdose and increased risk of negative COVID-19 outcomes. The resulting physical, mental, and relational challenges that can result from SUDs are not solely experienced by the individual with the SUD, but can extend outward to pose significant challenges to their whole family system (Kuppens et al., 2019). One particularly vulnerable population who may experience these challenges are the children of people with SUDs. It is estimated that 8.7 million youth in the United States live with at least one caregiver who has a SUD (Lipari & Van Horn, 2017). Previous research indicates that these children are at-risk for developing psychopathology (Raitasalo & Holmila, 2017), developing a SUD themselves later in life (Kilpatrick et al., 2000), and lower overall wellbeing (Kuppens et al., 2019). Though mental health interventions and professional support exist to strengthen protective factors for these at-risk youth, a significant barrier to care has been caregiver reluctance to engage youth in treatment (Contractor et al., 2010). 

 Digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) present one possible solution to increase access to care for these vulnerable youth. Recent studies highlight the effectiveness of the interventions in reducing the severity of symptoms associated with various psychopathology (Kahl et al., 2020), while also offering accessible, flexible, and private (or anonymous) ways of receiving support (Liverpool et al., 2020). Though literature around the efficacy of DMHIs continues to grow, there is still a need for research centered around attitudes for DMHIs and how those attitudes may influence adoption of these interventions for different populations. 

This poster examines the attitudes of caregivers who have SUD by evaluating their comfort level and concerns with allowing their children to access DMHIs versus traditional therapy. Caregivers (n=4,853) who have at least one child engaged in a mentoring program were recruited to participate in an online survey that included questions on caregiver and child demographic information, experiences and attitudes toward mental health treatment, experiences and attitudes toward DMHIs, and attitudes towards having a mentor use DMHIs to support their child’s mental health. Results indicated that caregivers who had a SUD were more comfortable with their children talking with a mentor about mental health and using DMHIs compared to caregivers who did not have SUD. Additionally, results from a paired-samples t-test indicated that caregivers who reported currently or previously struggling with SUD (n=239) had similar levels of comfort with their child talking to a therapist versus using DMHIs. Although comfort with therapy was slightly higher than comfort with DMHIs, there were no significant differences (t(198)=0.890, p=0.374).  This poster will explore results for caregiver concerns around DMHI adoption and therapy for mental health. Implications for practical application and future research will also be discussed.