Online Problem Solving Skills Training

Parents of children newly diagnosed with cancer experience depression and anxiety, especially in the first several months of treatment. Bright IDEAS, an 8-session problem-solving skills training (PSST) program has been used in studies with more than 900 mothers including more than 125 monolingual Spanish-speaking mothers. It has been shown to significantly decrease mothers' distress and to particularly benefit Latina immigrants. This past spring, the NCI/NIH designated Bright IDEAS as a Research-Tested Intervention Program and has included it in the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices. To date, Bright IDEAS has been available to mothers at only a few cancer centers with specially trained personnel. This proposal is designed to bring Bright IDEAS on-line to make it available to mothers and fathers 24/7 anywhere with Internet access. The investigators will carefully analyze acceptability and use to gain insight into the most promising ways of disseminating interventions like Bright IDEAS using Internet, Internet II, and other emerging technologies.