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Follow-up one year after parent-child interaction training: effects on behavior of preschool children
1Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh, PA.
Insights
A parent-child interaction program showed lasting benefits for preschool children's attention and behavior problems, as observed by teachers one year later. Parent and child outcomes did not differ between groups at follow-up.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Preventive Mental Health
Background:
- Previous research indicated positive effects of a parent-child interaction training program on preschool children's attention deficit and internalizing symptoms.
- The intervention targeted low-income preschool children and involved random assignment to a minimal treatment control or an experimental group.
Purpose of the Study:
- To report follow-up results of a preventive mental health intervention approximately one year after its conclusion.
- To assess the long-term impact of the parent-child interaction training on children's behavioral and academic outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Families were randomly assigned to either a minimal treatment control group or an experimental group receiving extensive treatment.
- Follow-up assessments included parent ratings and child achievement test scores.
- Teachers, blind to the intervention condition, provided ratings on attention deficit, hyperactivity, and overall behavior.
Main Results:
- No significant differences were found between groups in parent ratings or child achievement test scores at follow-up.
- Teachers rated children in the experimental group as significantly superior in attention deficit and hyperactivity symptoms compared to the control group, controlling for pre-intervention ratings.
- Composite teacher ratings of child behavior also significantly favored the experimental group.
Conclusions:
- The parent-child interaction training demonstrated sustained positive effects on children's classroom behavior and attention-related symptoms, as perceived by teachers, one year post-intervention.
- Teacher-reported improvements in children's classroom behavior were correlated with improvements in parental behavior during the intervention.
- While parent and academic measures did not show group differences, teacher observations suggest lasting benefits for children's behavioral regulation.
Abstract:
A preventive mental health intervention previously reported found positive effects in a parent-child interaction training program on attention deficit and internalizing symptoms of low-income preschool children as rated by parents. Families were randomly assigned to a "minimal treatment" control group or a more extensive treatment experimental group. The present study reports follow-up results measured approximately 1 year after the end of the intervention. Parent ratings and child achievement test scores showed no difference between the two groups. Teachers blind to the condition of the intervention, however, rated experimental children as significantly superior to control children with respect to attention deficit and hyperactivity symptoms (preintervention ratings by teachers on the same variable were statistically controlled). Composite teacher ratings of child behavior also significantly favored the experimental group. Children's improvements in classroom behavior were significantly correlated with improvements parents had shown during the intervention in their behavior toward the children.