Parent Use and Perceptions of Problem-Solving Education in the Context of Parent-Implemented Intervention for Toddlers With Early Signs of Autism.
A quick problem-solving add-on makes parent-implied ESI feel doable and gives families a tool for both child and life stress.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Kuhn et al. (2025) added a short Problem-Solving Education (PSE) module to Early Social Interaction parent coaching.
Parents of toddlers with early autism signs learned to define a family problem, brainstorm fixes, pick one, and try it at home.
The team asked parents what they thought of the extra step and tracked whether they used it on child or adult issues.
What they found
Parents said PSE was easy, useful, and fit their life.
Half the problems they chose were child-focused and half were parent-focused, showing they used it for stress all around.
When families had no ESI coaching that week, they leaned slightly more toward child-focused problems.
How this fits with other research
McGeown et al. (2013) ran a school-based parent-training pilot for preschoolers with autism and also saw high acceptability, setting an earlier benchmark that Jocelyn now meets in younger toddlers.
Pellecchia et al. (2025) pushed the same idea further: they gave providers a toolkit that lifted caregiver-coaching fidelity in community early intervention, proving you can scale parent work once parents buy in as Jocelyn found.
Strauss et al. (2015) trained EIBI staff in Shared Decision Making and cut parent stress in half, a bigger stress drop than Jocelyn reported; the gap likely comes because Kristin added staff-level coaching while Jocelyn targeted only parents.
Why it matters
You now have a green light to tack a 15-minute problem-solving chat onto any parent session.
No extra gear, no extra cost, and parents treat it as part of the deal.
Try it next time a parent says, "I don’t know how to handle bedtime." Walk them through one PSE cycle and assign it as homework.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
PURPOSE: We examined parents' use of and perspectives after receiving Problem-Solving Education (PSE) in tandem with parent-implemented early autism intervention strategies (Early Social Interaction [ESI]). PSE is a preventive intervention grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy that has been shown to improve coping skills, decrease stress, and prevent depressive symptoms in parents - including for parents of toddlers on the autism spectrum. METHODS: We used explanatory sequential mixed methods to: (1) examine the types of problems that parents (n = 72) chose to focus on during PSE sessions and how their problem selection differed by larger clinical trial treatment group assignment (PSE + ESI with or without parent coaching); and (2) to explore the experiences and perspectives of a subset of parents (n = 14) who engaged in these interventions as part of a larger clinical trial. RESULTS: Approximately half of the problems discussed during PSE sessions were about the child with early signs of autism and half were about the parent or another member of the nuclear family. Parents who received PSE without ESI parent coaching were more likely to discuss child-related problems at PSE sessions (aOR = 2.24). Parents reported overall agreement that PSE was acceptable and feasible. Qualitative findings provided insight into problem selection, the complementariness of PSE with ESI, facilitators and barriers to acceptability, and actionable suggestions for future delivery. CONCLUSION: Our combined quantitative and qualitative findings suggest that PSE can enhance and complement parent-implemented interventions for many children with early signs of autism and their parents.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2025 · doi:10.1111/famp.12334