Em. Schuhmann et al., EFFICACY OF PARENT-CHILD INTERACTION THERAPY - INTERIM-REPORT OF A RANDOMIZED TRIAL WITH SHORT-TERM MAINTENANCE, Journal of clinical child psychology, 27(1), 1998, pp. 34-45
Describes interim results of a study examining the effectiveness of pa
rent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) with families of preschool-age c
hildren with oppositional defiant disorder. Following an initial asses
sment, 64 clinic-referred families were randomly assigned to an immedi
ate treatment (IT) or a wait-list control (WL) condition. Results indi
cated that parents in the IT condition interacted more positively with
their child and were more successful in gaining their child's complia
nce than parents in the WL condition. In addition, parents who receive
d treatment reported decreased parenting stress and a more internal lo
cus of control. Parents in the IT group reported statistically and cli
nically significant improvements in their child's behavior following P
CIT. All families who received treatment reported high levels of satis
faction with both the content and process of PCIT. Preliminary 4-month
follow-up data showed that parents maintained gains on all self-repor
t measures.