Editorial: Elevating the Evidence and Promoting Accessibility of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy-Emotion Development...

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) was developed for externalizing disorders in school-aged children and was influenced both by social learning theory and attachment theory. Taking a 2-step approach, it aims to develop parental management skills such as clear communication and limit setting to reduce behavior problems, and relationship skills to enhance nurturance.¹ PCIT has been adapted for various internalizing disorders and for preschool-aged children.² Joan Luby and her colleagues developed PCIT-ED, which condensed the original 8-session PCIT program to 6 sessions and added an 8-session Emotion Development (ED) module targeting the child's emotional awareness and regulation. Consistent with the tenets of PCIT, this program equips parents with tools to support the emotional development of their children. In this month's issue of the Journal, Elansary et al. investigated the long-term outcomes of PCIT-ED among a sample of 105 preschool-aged children.³ Earlier investigations of the same cohort demonstrated higher remission rates and reduced depression symptoms compared to waitlist controls, as well as decreased parenting stress and parental depression at the end of treatment. Treatment gains were sustained in many areas at 3-month follow-up.⁴ Our comment is focused on the following: (1) the next steps for establishing the efficacy of PCIT for preschool depression, (2) how the challenges of dissemination of the intervention to a larger population might be met, and (3) considerations for the next generation of early life interventions.