Unpacking Conjoint Behavioral Consultation: A Latent Profile Analysis of Parent-Teacher Interactions

ABSTRACT

Conjoint behavioral consultation (CBC) is a model of consultation wherein parents and teachers partner to address children’s social-behavioral concerns. The teacher-parent relationship has proven critical to the success of CBC, yet little is known about the dynamics in CBC that may promote these relationships. This study explored interactions among teachers and parents during CBC. Using latent profile analysis, four interactional sense-making behaviors (i.e., engagement, perspective-taking, turn-taking, and coherence) were examined among 193 parents and teachers participating in CBC. Three classes of interactions emerged – one class characterized by high interactional sense-making (18%), another characterized by moderate interactional sense-making (69%), and one class characterized by low interactional sense-making (13%). Follow-up analyses suggested differences in the quality of this relationship based on the interactions displayed by parents and teachers, with dyads that displayed high and moderate patterns of interactional sense-making reporting better quality relationships than those demonstrating low patterns of interactional sense-making.

Acknowledgments

This research reported here was supported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R324A100115 and R305F050284 to the University of Nebraska Lincoln; and by the Society for the Study of School Psychology under a dissertation grant awarded to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education or the Society for the Study of School Psychology.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences [R305F050284,R324A100115]; Society for the Study of School Psychology [Dissertation Grant].

Notes on contributors

Shannon R. Holmes

Shannon R. Holmes is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational, School & Counseling Psychology at the University of Missouri. Her research focuses on the application of implementation science to the study of school psychology, as well as ways to build meaningful partnerships between parents and teachers to support students’ learning and development.

Susan M. Sheridan

Susan M. Sheridan is the George Holmes University Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She is the founding director of the Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools. Her research focuses on family-school partnership interventions in support of students’ learning and social-behavioral development. She conducts parent engagement research in early-childhood and school-based contexts.

Tyler E. Smith

Tyler E. Smith is a senior research associate in the Department of Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology at the University of Missouri. His research interests include preparing teachers to effectively engage families in their children’s education and identifying key components to improve family-school partnership interventions.