Parent engagement in early intervention supports child and family outcomes but is currently lacking in community service settings. The current study examined parent and provider factors that influence parent participation engagement (PPE), defined as active, independent, and responsive contribution to treatment, in early autism intervention in the Part C Early Intervention (EI) system, which provides publicly funded services for developmentally delayed children under three and emphasizes the use of parent coaching. While most studies have examined influences on proxies of PPE (e.g., attendance, retention, homework completion), the current study utilized objective observational assessment to examine parent and provider factors that predict PPE. Multilevel modeling was used to analyze PPE across 215 EI session recordings that involved 113 independent parents and 61 independent providers. Results suggested that a) single parents face greater barriers to PPE, b) provider quality of parent coaching may promote higher PPE, c) provider quality of parent coaching may not moderate the influence of single parent status on PPE, and d) the quality of specific parent coaching strategies influences PPE. Provider use of high-quality Reflection & Problem Solving (i.e., eliciting parent concerns and working through barriers to at-home intervention strategy use) predicted significantly higher PPE while provider use of high-quality Demonstration (i.e., explaining and demonstrating intervention techniques to parents) predicted lower PPE. Implications for increased provider training in particular parent coaching domains to promote PPE in early autism intervention are discussed.
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