Children with home behavior problems frequently are treated via training their parents to become behavior therapists for their own children. One approach has been to use didactic group training. Another approach involves parent training in specific parent-child interaction patterns through the use of modeling, in vivo practice, and immediate feedback. In this study, the effectiveness of the 2 methods was compared via multiple outcome measures, which included both direct therapist observation and parent report. 29 4-9 yr olds were divided into didactic group-treatment, individual mother-child interaction training, and controls. After 5 training sessions, therapist observation revealed improvement in the facilitative behavior of the mothers who received individual, in vivo instruction, as well as improvement in the children's behavior. No significant changes were observed in the group treatment or control conditions. Specific home mangagement behaviors were improved in all 3 groups according to mothers' reports. Individually trained mothers expressed significantly more satisfaction with the program. It is suggested that direct observation of mother-child behavior, with immediate feedback, reinforcement, and further practice, may be related to the superiority of the individual training method.

Child Study Lab
Department of Clinical and Health Psychology
University of Florida
P.O. Box 100165
Gainesville, FL 32610
Phone (352) 265-0680 x 46878
E-mail: seyberg@hp.ufl.edu
© 2001 University of Florida
Last updated: March 07, 2006.