Prevention through parent training: Three preventive parent education programs

One route to preventing child behavior disorders and adjustment problems is the enhancement of parent competence. This paper reviews three preventive parent education programs conducted at a community mental health center. One program provides child behavior advice in pediatric practices, another is a class that teaches child management skills to parents of preschoolers, and a third is a more specialized behavior management class for parents of children with Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Program evaluations indicate that the interventions improve parent skills, child behavior and parent-child interaction. The contribution to the prevention of serious behavior problems is highlighted.