Incorporating Evidence-Based Parenting Practices into Home-Based Behavioral Health: A PCIT-Informed Approach for...

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Behavioral Therapy
• Parent Training

Background:

• Disruptive behavior problems are prevalent in early childhood.
• Access to evidence-based parent training is often limited by workforce shortages and service delivery barriers.
• Behavioral Skills Training for Families (BSF) is a home-based model informed by Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT).

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility of the Child-Directed Interaction (CDI) module of BSF.
• To assess preliminary caregiver and child outcomes associated with BSF CDI.
• To inform future training, implementation, and evaluation of BSF.

Main Methods:

• A non-randomized pre-post design was used with caregiver-child dyads (children aged 2-10 years).
• Outcomes were measured using observational coding of caregiver skills (DPICS) and caregiver-reported child behavior (ECBI, WACB-P).
• Paired-sample t-tests examined changes from baseline to the last CDI session.

Main Results:

• Caregivers showed significant increases in positive parenting skills and reductions in negative verbalizations.
• Children exhibited significant reductions in disruptive behavior intensity and problem scores (ECBI).
• No significant changes were observed in caregiver-reported positive child behaviors (WACB-P), though ECBI results were consistent.

Conclusions:

• BSF CDI is feasible for implementation by paraprofessionals.
• The model is associated with meaningful improvements in caregiver and child behavior in the initial months of service.
• BSF is a promising workforce-embedded approach for early childhood disruptive behaviors.