Father Involvement in Parent Training for Oppositional Child Behavior

Outcome literature (1981 to 1988) on behavioral parent training interventions for nonhandicapped children with oppositional behavior is reviewed to assess the extent and effects of father involvement in parent training. Thirteen studies were found that included some father involvement. Weaknesses of these studies include a failure to observe and measure changed in father-child interactions, a lack of emphasis on the impact of the marital relationship, a lack of attention to similarities in parental child management strategies, and a lack of assessment of paternal characteristics. Further research to assess the effects of including fathers on parent training outcomes can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of these interventions.     

Impact of Child and Parent Motivation on Social Skills Training Outcome

This study explores child and parent motivation at the start of a social skills training group program and its relationship with treatment outcome. A total of 59 children (aged 7–12) participated. Parents were more aware of, distressed by, and motivated to change the presenting problem than were their children. Greater parent awareness of their child’s difficulty making and keeping friends and perceived importance of their child learning ways to make and keep more friends significantly predicted more improved social skills. Increasing parents’ awareness and perceived importance of treating the presenting problem at the start of therapy may increase treatment effectiveness.     

Evaluating Triple P Online: A Digital Parent Training Program for Child Behavior Problems

Triple P Online (i.e., TPOL; www2.tripleponline.net) is an online self-help parent training program aimed at reducing child behavior problems through “positive parenting practices”—available at time of review for $79.95. TPOL is comprised of 8 video-based modules that also incorporate in-session activities and homework. Randomized control trials have shown that TPOL effectively reduces child behavior problems. The program’s main strengths include very high-quality content with an abundance of relevant and easily locatable resources, an easy-to-use interface, and a professional look and feel. The program’s main weakness lies in its lack of monitoring and adaptation to the user’s state (e.g., child’s and parent’s behaviors), and real-time reminders for desired actions. Altogether, TPOL is an extremely valuable and important resource for families seeking evidence-based treatment for child behavior problems.     

Reaching Latino Families Through Pediatric Primary Care: Outcomes of the CANNE Parent Training Program

The lack of culturally adapted parenting programs for Latinos contributes to low engagement in effective parenting programs. Criando a Nuestros Niños Hacio el Éxito (CANNE), a culturally adapted program, improves family dynamics by decreasing problematic child behavior and helping parents manage stress. CANNE was delivered with 12 Latino parents of children (age 3–7). Increased attendance and participation resulted in less child behavior problems and parenting stress from preintervention to postintervention. A culturally relevant adaptation of an evidence-based parenting program improved engagement, child behavioral outcomes, and parenting stress. Implications of mental health services in primary care facilities for Latino families are addressed.     

Parent and Child Anxiety Sensitivity: Relationship in a Nonclinical Sample

Little is known about the relationship between parent and child anxiety sensitivity (AS), particularly in nonclinical samples. The present study examined this association in 207 healthy parent-child pairs including 244 children (mean age = 12.3 years, 103 girls) and 226 parent figures (175 mothers). Sequential multiple linear regression revealed that parent AS was significantly associated with child AS in girls, but not in boys. Parent AS accounted for 9% of incremental variance in child AS, after controlling for child age, parent depression, and parent anxiety. Analyses of parent AS dimensions indicated that the social concerns dimension accounted for 14% of incremental variance in child AS in girls only. Parent anxiety and depression showed no association with child AS, once parent AS was taken into account. The findings indicate that parent AS, especially AS social concerns, demonstrates a significant relationship with child AS in this nonclinical sample of girls.     

Child Characteristics,Parent Education and Depressive Symptoms,and Marital Conflict Predicting Trajectories of Parenting Behavior from Childhood Through Early Adolescence in Taiwan

The study examined how child and parent characteristics, and contextual sources of stress, such as marital conflict predict initial status and trajectories of parent involvement, support, and harsh control, over a 4‐year period in families in Taiwan (n = 4,754). Based on Belsky's (1984) ecological model of parenting, three domains predicting parenting were tested, child characteristics (age cohort and gender), father and mother characteristics (education and depressive symptoms), and contextual sources of stress (marital conflict). The study followed two cohorts of children; the younger cohort was followed from first to fourth grade and the older cohort from fourth to seventh grade. Initially, fourth graders reported more parental involvement, support, and harsh control than first graders. However, involvement, support, and harsh control decreased across the 4 years for the older cohort as they transitioned to early adolescence. In the first year, girls reported more parental involvement and support and less harsh control than boys. Across the 4 years, involvement and support increased, and harsh control decreased for boys; whereas involvement stayed the same, support slightly decreased, and harsh control slightly increased for girls. Children whose parents were more educated reported more parent involvement, support, and harsh control in the first year. Children whose fathers were chronically depressed and whose parents were experiencing marital conflict reported decreasing parent involvement and support over the years.     

Prevention of Child Maltreatment: Evaluation of a Parent Education Program for Teen Mothers

We conducted an evaluation of a parent education program for the prevention of child maltreatment that served urban teen, unmarried mothers at risk for child maltreatment. Three to five years after the birth of their children, program graduates (n = 125) were significantly less likely than controls (n = 410) to have founded reports of maltreatment in the state database. On the basis of a follow-up phone call to a subset of 80 program graduates and 40 controls, mothers who enrolled in the 12-week parent education/support program showed trends toward being more likely to have completed high school, taken some college courses, and delayed subsequent pregnancies until after age 21.     

Parent Stress and Coping: Waiting for a Child to Receive a Kidney Transplant

The current study examined the degree of parent stress and depression among mothers and fathers of children with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) listed for a kidney transplant, to determine whether demographic factors, stress, and coping would predict parent depression. Eighty-six mothers and 58 fathers of children with ESRD preparing for a kidney transplant completed standardized measures of parent stress related to the child’s chronic illness (PIP), coping style (Brief Cope), and depression (BDI-II). Information about the disease was obtained from the medical record. Maternal depression was predicted by having a lower family income, higher degree of parent stress associated with the child’s illness, and the use of avoidant coping strategies. Paternal depression was only predicted by higher parent stress. Illness related variables did not contribute significantly to the understanding of parent outcomes. Pre-transplant evaluations should screen for elevated levels of stress and depression, and develop interventions to help parents cope with their child’s renal disease.     

Taming the Brain Weasels: Reducing Self-Criticism Through Externalization and Compassion

ABSTRACT

Self-criticism is a natural process occurring across mental health disorders. When self-criticism is excessive, vulnerability to mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety increases. Compassion-focused approaches can effectively address a variety of concerns; however, highly self-critical individuals might balk at the idea of self-directed compassion due to shame, self-blame, or discomfort with positive emotions, resulting in treatment resistance. The brain weasel is an intervention strategy that uses the Narrative Therapy technique of externalization as an intermediate step toward compassion-oriented work. Through creative externalization and therapeutic humor, self-critical individuals can decenter and explore their self-critical dialogue. This article contains several ways to introduce and use the brain weasel personification in counseling.     

Assessing the Child's Cognitive Home Environment Through Parental Report; Reliability and Validity

In a series of investigations with poor minority families, we examined the reliability and validity of the StimQ, an office-based interview of children's cognitive home environment. Researchers and practitioners alike recognize the importance of assessing meaningful dimensions of children's early experiences, particularly in families where children may be at risk for later cognitive delay. To date, methodological approaches to the study of parenting have most often relied on home visits and/or labour-intensive observations and coding. Our findings suggest that valid and reliable data about the cognitive environments of poor children can be obtained through maternal report, thereby offering applied scientists a useful alternative to assessing children's early experiences. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Enhancing the Benefits of Written Emotional Disclosure Through Response Training

Writing about a personal stressful event has been found to have psychological and physical health benefits, especially when physiological response increases during writing. Response training was developed to amplify appropriate physiological reactivity in imagery exposure. The present study examined whether response training enhances the benefits of written emotional disclosure. Participants were assigned to either a written emotional disclosure condition (n = 113) or a neutral writing condition (n = 133). Participants in each condition wrote for 20 minutes on 3 occasions and received response training (n = 79), stimulus training (n = 84) or no training (n = 83). Heart rate and skin conductance were recorded throughout a 10-minute baseline, 20-minute writing, and a 10-minute recovery period. Self-reported emotion was assessed in each session. One month after completing the sessions, participants completed follow-up assessments of psychological and physical health outcomes. Emotional disclosure elicited greater physiological reactivity and self-reported emotion than neutral writing. Response training amplified physiological reactivity to emotional disclosure. Greater heart rate during emotional disclosure was associated with the greatest reductions in event-related distress, depression, and physical illness symptoms at follow-up, especially among response trained participants. Results support an exposure explanation of emotional disclosure effects and are the first to demonstrate that response training facilitates emotional processing and may be a beneficial adjunct to written emotional disclosure.     

Parental Social Cognitions: Considerations in the Acceptability of and Engagement in Behavioral Parent Training

Behavioral parent training (BPT) is a widely used, evidence-based treatment for externalizing child behaviors. However, the ability of BPT programs to be maximally effective remains limited by relatively low rates of acceptance, attendance, and adherence to treatment. Previous reviews have focused on a variety of demographic and mental health characteristics of parents and children that are predictive of poor outcomes in BPT. This paper focuses instead on consideration of parental social cognitions, and how incorporation of these cognitions may, or may not, be useful in advancing the effectiveness of BPT. We first review evidence suggesting limited incremental effects to incorporating parental cognitions within the context of BPT programs. Then, we examine the role of two particular types of parental social cognitions, attributions and parenting efficacy, in relation to the initial stages of accepting and engaging in BPT. We conclude by noting limitations in available research on the links between parental social cognitions and BPT, and we outline a number of potentially useful directions that may clarify whether or not parental social cognitions should be accorded greater attention either in the initial stages or throughout BPT programs.     

The Experience of Abandonment and Adoption,as a Child and as a Parent,in a Psychological Motivational Perspective

Abstract

The publication of the relationship between Sabina Spielrein and Carl Jung in 1980 gave rise to a veritable cottage industry of mythomania at the expense of historical truth. The fictions grafted upon the historical facts have conjured up a sensational aura of scandal and gossip about the protagonists. The arch fiction is that Spielrein and Jung had a sexual relationship during her analysis by Jung. At the very least, based on documents published by the author, this opinion can no longer be maintained beyond reasonable doubt. After 1905, Spielrein was no longer Jung's patient but continued as Jung's medical student, whereupon Jung sought her out as friend. In addition, it was Spielrein herself who fell passionately in love with Jung, and analysed this relationship as a case of mutual oedipal dynamics. The author further pursues the oedipal analysis of and links it to (1) love as reality and transference, (2) the reality of Jewish and Gentile relationships in Europe, and (3) mutual ethnic transferences between Spielrein and Jung. Jung, who was also passionately drawn to Spielrein, displaced his marital problems owing to a “Don Juan complex” to concocted problems in treatment, deceiving both himself and Freud out of the dread of social consequences.     

Reducing fears and increasing assertiveness: The role of dissonance reduction

In the research paradigm known as effort justification, people engage in an effortful activity in order to attain a goal. As a result, the goal becomes more attractive. Two experiments were conducted to test the notion that the effort justification sequence can account for the positive changes that result from psychotherapy. In the first experiment, subjects who were afraid to approach a snake underwent one of two types of effortful therapy. One was a modified form of an anxiety-producing therapy known as “implosive therapy”; the other was merely a set of physical exercises. It was reasoned, on the basis of cognitive dissonance theory, that the expenditure of effort would lead to a positive change in the ability to approach the snake but only under conditions of high decision freedom. Half of the subjects in each of the therapy conditions participated with high choice; the other half with low choice. Subjects' improvement in their approach to snakes was assessed. A main effect for decision freedom was predicted and found independently of the type of effort that subjects expended. A second experiment conceptually replicated the findings of the first experiment. Subjects who wanted to become more assertive participated in an effortful, physical exercise therapy or in a modified form of the standard treatment for fear of assertiveness. The results of the 2 × 2 factorial experiment again showed a main effect for decision freedom such that high choice subjects became more assertive. The findings were discussed in terms of dissonance and attribution theories as well as for implications for future consideration of psychotherapy.     

Towards Culturally Relevant Preventive Interventions: The Consideration of Racial Socialization in Parent Training with African American Families

We present a rationale for the inclusion of culture-based parenting practices (i.e., racial socialization) in the design and implementation of empirically based parenting programs with African American families. We begin with a discussion of the limitations of the current parent training literature related to cultural considerations. Second, we examine the cultural and racial contexts of parenting for African Americans, review the literature on racial socialization, and discuss empirical support for considering its inclusion in parent training programs. Third, we examine the extent to which racial socialization operates in low-income African American families by presenting the findings from a qualitative pilot. We conclude by discussing how findings from the qualitative pilot might inform intervention efforts.     

Preventative Behavioral Parent Training: A Preliminary Investigation of Strategies for Preventing At-Risk Children From Developing Later Conduct Problems

Children exhibiting conduct problems comprise the largest source of referrals to children's mental health services. The treatment for conduct problems that possesses the greatest amount of empirical support is behavioral parent training. Unfortunately, a cogent approach to the identification of risk factors and prevention of chronic conduct problem display has not been developed. This project was an initial longitudinal assessment examining the merits of preventative behavioral parent training as a primary prevention strategy for at-risk children. Results demonstrated that prevention participants were engaging in normative rates of disruptive behaviors at 6-month follow-up, whereas comparison children showed a behavioral decline over time.