PARENT-CHILD INTERACTION THERAPY WITH BEHAVIOR PROBLEM CHILDREN - MAINTENANCE OF TREATMENT EFFECTS IN THE SCHOOL SETTING

Followup school assessments were conducted 12 months and 18 months fol lowing completion of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), a behavi oral family therapy for preschool children with disruptive behavior di sorders. Subjects in the treatment group displayed significant home an d school behavior problems prior to treatment, and showed clinically s ignificant improvement in home behavior after completing the 14-sessio n program. Additionally, behavioral improvements generalized to school without direct classroom intervention. At the 12-month followup, subj ects in the treatment group maintained post-treatment improvements on observational and teacher rating measures of classroom conduct problem s and showed further improvements in social competency. Compared to th e 72 control subjects, the treatment group improved to within the norm al range of conduct problems and social competence at the 12-month fol lowup. At the 18-month followup, subjects maintained improvements in c ompliance, but demonstrated declines on most measures into the range o f pre-treatment levels.