PARENT-CHILD INTERACTION THERAPY WITH BEHAVIOR PROBLEM CHILDREN - RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF 2 STAGES AND OVERALL TREATMENT OUTCOME

Evaluated the effectiveness of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) for 24 mother-child dyads. Families received 14 weekly sessions of PC IT, with half receiving Child-Directed Interaction training first (CDI -First group) and half receiving Parent-Directed Interaction training first (PDI-First group). At midtreatment, the PDI training stage was m ore effective than the CDI stage for reducing noncompliance and disrup tiveness. The groups were also compared at posttreatment to examine th e impact of stage sequence. The PDI-First group was more improved on p arent report of conduct problems, and mothers were more satisfied with therapy. The two groups were combined to examine overall treatment ou tcome. Families moved from outside normal limits to within normal limi ts on compliance, conduct problems, activity level, and maternal stres s, and showed improvement in internalizing problems and child self-est eem. Gains were maintained at 6-week follow-up.