Empowering Parental Caregivers

• web-based group problem solving and coping training (Behavioral): The group included one-hour, weekly Zoom sessions, that were facilitated by an occupational therapy doctoral candidate (first author) for 7 consecutive weeks. During the first session, the candidate explained adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies and asked each participant to identify one adaptive coping strategy that they currently use and will continue to use in the future. The candidate then explained the FOCUS problem-solving approach. For each session afterward, the candidate presented a topic-related scenario for parents to identify an effective solution using the FOCUS steps (APA, 2011). Parent-chosen topics included recreation, assistive technology, motivating and advocating, physical activity, skin integrity, and adaptive fashion. The general process of the meetings is presented in Figure 1. After every meeting the candidate sent out a summary of resources that were discussed during the meeting, ultimately putting them all together in an "Empowering Caregiver Guide."

Primary outcomes

• Brief COPE [Before the group began, 7 weeks after start of group]: The Brief COPE is a 28-item self-report measure that determines the participants' styles of coping (Carver,1997).
• Caregiver Self-Assessment Questionnaire [Before the group began 7 weeks after start of group]: The Caregiver Self-Assessment Questionnaire is a brief, 18-question self-assessment that asks respondents to consider the impact of caregiving on their stress levels, physical body, and mental health (American Society for Geriatrics, 2015).
• Knowledge Check [Before the group began 7 weeks after start of group]: The Knowledge Check was a measure developed by the research team with guidance from Obst and Porter's guide for school personnel (n.d.). The research team generated the items around three themes: general SCI knowledge, FOCUS problem-solving skills, and coping knowledge.

Secondary outcomes

• Attendance [across the 7 weeks of the group]: number of sessions attended
• Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8 (CSQ-8) [at the end of the 7 weeks]: The CSQ-8 is an eight-item standardized questionnaire that aims to understand the participants' general satisfaction with the sessions, developed by Attkisson \& Greenfield (2004). It is a highly effective tool to measure client satisfaction with program contents and has high internal consistency (Attkisson \& Greenfield, 2004).

Sex: All, ages: 18 Years to any, accepts healthy volunteers

Inclusion Criteria:

* one must be a parent or guardian of a child with a spinal cord injury or disorder, be that child's primary caregiver, and be 18 years or older.

Exclusion Criteria:

* None

• Elena Donoso Brown, PhD, Study chair, Duquesne University
• Elena Martino, BS, Principal investigator, Duquesne University