Changing interactions between teachers and socially inhibited kindergarten children: An interpersonal approach

In a short-term longitudinal intervention study, it was investigated whether a short teacher training in interpersonal theory and the complementarity principle could be used to break negative interaction cycles between teachers and socially inhibited kindergartners. Sixty-five children and their 35 regular teachers were observed in a dyadic task setting, on three occasions. In the training, it was explained that teachers could elicit more initiative from children by being less dominant and more friendliness by being more affiliative. Independent observers rated teachers' and children's interactive behaviors in 5-second episodes. Teachers reported on children's social inhibition. Multilevel analyses showed that the training elicited a decrease in teacher control at follow-up. Unexpectedly, the training increased teachers' complementarity on the affiliation dimension, especially in interactions with highly inhibited children. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Effects of PMTO in Foster Families with Children with Behavior Problems: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The present randomized controlled trial examined the effectiveness of Parent Management Training Oregon for foster parents with foster children (aged 4–12) with severe externalizing behavior problems in long-term foster care arrangements. Foster children’s behavior problems are challenging for foster parents and increase the risk of placement breakdown. There is little evidence for the effectiveness of established interventions to improve child and parent functioning in foster families. The goal of Parent Management Training Oregon, a relatively long and intensive (6–9 months, with weekly sessions) parent management training, is to reduce children’s problem behavior through improvement of parenting practices. We specifically investigated whether Parent Management Training Oregon is effective to reduce foster parenting stress. A significant effect of Parent Management Training Oregon, compared to Care as Usual was expected on reduced parenting stress improved parenting practices, and on reduced child behavior problems. Multi-informant (foster mothers, foster fathers, and teachers) data were used from 86 foster families (46 Parent Management Training Oregon, 40 Care as Usual) using a pre-posttest design. Multilevel analyses based on the intention to treat principle (retention rate 73?%) showed that Parent Management Training Oregon, compared to Care as Usual, reduced general levels of parenting stress as well as child related stress and parent-related stress (small to medium effect sizes). The clinical significance of this effect was, however, limited. Compared to a decrease in the Care as Usual group, Parent Management Training Oregon helped foster mothers to maintain parental warmth (small effect size). There were no other effects of Parent Management Training Oregon on self-reported parenting behaviors. Child behavior problems were reduced in both conditions, indicating no additive effects of Parent Management Training Oregon to Care as Usual on child functioning. The potential implication of reduced foster parenting stress for placement stability is discussed.     

Using Two-Level Factor Analysis to Test for Cluster Bias in Ordinal Data

The test for cluster bias is a test of measurement invariance across clusters in 2-level data. This article examines the true positive rates (empirical power) and false positive rates of the test for cluster bias using the likelihood ratio test (LRT) and the Wald test with ordinal data. A simulation study indicates that the scaled version of the LRT that accounts for nonnormality of the data gives untrustworthy results, whereas the unscaled LRT and the Wald test have acceptable false positive rates and perform well in terms of empirical power rate if the amount of cluster bias is large. The test for cluster bias is illustrated with data from research on teacher-student relations.