Parenting Wisely: Parent Training via CD-ROM with an Australian Sample

The effectiveness of a parenting program was examined with an Australian sample regarding improved parent knowledge, parental sense of competence, and child behavior. One hundred and sixteen parents and their children were randomly assigned to three conditions: a two-session group based intervention, a two-session self-administered individual intervention, or to a waitlist control group. Across both treatment modalities results reveal a significant increase in parental satisfaction, efficacy, and a reduction in child problem behavior. Improvements were maintained at 3-months follow-up. Results indicate the individual self-administered format enhanced treatment gains relative to the group format.     

Differences in Self-Report Among Incest Family Members

A questionnaire study was conducted among incest families to study their perceptions of social background factors, how long the incest relationship lasted, who was involved, the history of incest in the family, emotional and psychological factors, and the consequences of the incest for the family. It was hypothesized that incest offenders, their spouses and incest victims all tend to report the above in a manner that reflect positively upon their own role in the incest relationship. The results showed clear differences in the reposts of the three groups. The paper concludes that such differences in perceptions must be incorporated in family therapy strategies as well as in our knowledge base of incest families.     

Critical Issues in Causation and Treatment of Autism: Why Fads Continue to Flourish

The increasing incidence of autism and the lack of specific answers regarding causation have given rise to unproven educational interventions and medical treatments. Parents of a newly diagnosed child can easily fall prey to interventions that promise cures. These interventions may be harmful and, thus, pose one of the critical issues in special education today. This article will discuss some of the suspect interventions that have been popularized through the media (i.e., celebrities, journalists, and professional organizations). The authors argue that using the scientific method is clearly the antidote for pseudoscience; the need for accurate research-based decision making is apparent.     

Comparison of Mothers' and Fathers' Opinions of Parent–Child Interaction Therapy

Opinions of parenting programs mostly have been obtained from mothers. Because mothers and fathers' interactions with children differ, gathering data from both parents regarding behavior modification and parenting programs is necessary. This project was part of a larger study and compared mothers and fathers' acceptability of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) and its various components. Acceptability data were obtained using the Treatment Evaluation Inventory-Short Form and a modified version of this measure assessing specific PCIT components. The sample consisted of 40 community mother-father pairs of a young male child. Findings suggest gender differences in PCIT treatment acceptability and various PCIT components.     

‘And when you were a child?’: how therapists working with parents alongside individual child psychotherapy bring the past into their work

When a child is offered psychotherapy, it is common that regular meetings will be offered to the parents. However, there are debates in the literature about the degree to which such parent work should include a focus on the parents’ own childhood experiences. This study aimed to examine the way that those offering parent work as part of a study evaluating the treatment of adolescent depression dealt with this issue in their work with parents, both in the study and in routine clinical practice. Design: five therapists were interviewed on the subject of working with parents’ childhood experiences within parent work parallel to child psychotherapy. Data were analysed qualitatively, using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Findings: participants described the need to consider the different parameters of this work to individual adult therapy; in addition, participants felt that it was necessary to negotiate permission to work on the parents’ childhood experiences. They also spoke of making use of insight into the repetition of the parents’ history, the analysis of parental projections and offering containment within the relationship; this varies from the ‘transference work’ of individual therapy and a different style of interpretation was described. Conclusions: there is a need to give more attention to the neglected field of working with parents alongside individual child psychotherapy, especially at a time when such work is under threat within many public services. There are particular technical issues related to work with parents’ own childhood histories that are different to how one might work in individual therapy with a parent.     

Parent–adolescent conflict,treatment adherence and glycemic control in Type 1 diabetes: The importance of adolescent externalising symptoms

Parent–adolescent conflict has been demonstrated to relate to treatment adherence and glycemic control in adolescents with Type 1 diabetes. The present longitudinal study investigated how these variables were interrelated over time, and examined whether externalising and internalising symptoms function as mediating variables. A total of 109 adolescents with diabetes participated at four annual time points and completed measures on conflict with parents, internalising and externalising symptoms. Information on treatment non-adherence and glycemic control was obtained from treating physicians. Cross-lagged analyses from a structural equation modelling approach indicated that father–adolescent but not mother–adolescent conflict positively influenced treatment non-adherence over time, which, in turn, was associated with higher glycosylated haemoglobin-values. Further, externalising but not internalising symptoms were found to mediate the pathway from father–adolescent conflict to treatment adherence over time. Finally, mother–adolescent conflict was found to relate indirectly to treatment non-adherence through its relationship with externalising symptoms. Hence, the present longitudinal study provides evidence that externalising symptoms represent an important mechanism through which earlier experiences of parent–adolescent conflict may influence later treatment non-adherence and poorer glycemic control. Implications and suggestions for future research are outlined.     

Cultural Diversity: Do We Need a New Wake-Up Call for Parent Training?

In 1996, Forehand and Kotchick concluded that parent-training (PT) interventions largely ignored cultural influences on parenting behavior. They reasoned that the failure to integrate the influence of ethnicity into theories of parenting behavior could result in culturally biased and less effective interventions. The present article addresses whether their “wake-up call” went unheard. We review research on PT treatment studies and examine (a) the rate of inclusion of ethnic minority parents in PT research, (b) the effectiveness of PT across ethnic groups, and (c) the effectiveness of culturally adapted PT interventions. Results show that there has been an increase in the ethnic diversity of PT treatment studies over the past three decades, yet only one methodologically sound study directly examined ethnicity as a moderator of PT treatment outcome. Despite the paucity of evidence that ethnicity is a moderator of parent-training outcomes, a number of culturally adapted PT treatments have been developed. These adapted interventions have rarely been tested against the unadapted interventions on which they are based. The results fail to support the current emphasis on ethnicity in efforts to improve the effectiveness of PT. We present methodological and conceptual limitations in the existing literature and provide recommendations for researchers studying the effects of ethnicity on PT outcomes.     

聋校低年级学生班级友伴网络建构及其特点研究— 一项两年的追踪研究

本文采用调查法与社会网络分析法对聋校三年级聋生在班级群体中的友伴网络进行2年的追踪研究,以探索友伴网络的建构及其动态发展特征。结果表明：①三年级初期,聋生在友伴网络的个体中心度与个体的外貌、成绩与年龄等个人特征有显著相关;但随年级升高,这种相关性逐渐消失。②聋生友伴网络中存在一个十分稳定的中心小团体,其团体成员在整个网络中处于中心地位。③聋生在班级群体中的互选朋友关系呈现出中等程度的稳定性。     

The Relation of Parental Emotionality and Related Dispositional Traits to Parental Expression of Emotion and Children's Social Functioning

The purpose of this study was to test relations between parental temperamental emotionality and regulation or related personality characteristics and parental behavior, children's regulation, and children's social functioning. Mothers and fathers reported on their own personality and/or temperament and expressivity in the family (mothers only); parents and teachers rated children (71 girls and 99 boys; M age = 73 months) on their temperamental regulation, social competence, and problem behavior. Mothers also were observed interacting with their child, and behavioral measures of children's regulation were obtained. In general, high parental regulation and low negative emotionality were associated with positive developmental outcomes in children and more positive parental behaviors, and mothers' expression of positive emotion in the family mediated some of the relations of their dispositions to children's socioemotional functioning.