A Clinical Evaluation of the Parents Plus Childrens Programme: A Training Course for Parents of Chil

1
A Clinical Evaluation of the Parents Plus
Childrens Programme A Training Course for
Parents of Children with Behavioural and/or
Developmental Problems Michael CoughlinJohn
Sharry , Carol Fitzpatrick, Suzanne Guerin ,
Michael Drumm Mater Hospital Child and
Adolescent Mental Health Research Centre, Dublin,
Ireland School of Psychology, University
College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

• Abstract
• The Parents Plus Childrens Programme is a
  DVD-based group parent training intervention,
  designed to be relevant for young children aged
  six to eleven with behavioral and/or
  developmental difficulties. The programme aims to
  decrease child problem behaviour and parental
  stress, thus making it a potential frontline
  intervention within child mental health services.
  Participants are parents of children aged six to
  eleven with behavioral and/or developmental
  difficulties who received either parent training
  or "treatment as usual" over an eight week
  period. The study is ongoing and is aiming to
  have eighty participants. Preliminary results
  suggest improvements in parent reports of
  behavior problems, goal achievement and parent
  stress and that these improvements are greater
  for the parent training group compared with the
  comparison group.
• Background
• The Parents Plus Childrens Programme
• Is a group based video modeling assisted course,
  utilizing behavioural and social learning theory
  and is solution focused and collaborative in its
  approach
• Uses video as a means of communication, thus
  providing information to families in a manner
  which is accessible, familiar and immediate and
  which does not demand literacy skills
• Is evidence based and culturally sensitive to the
  Irish context
• Equips parents with the skills to build a
  positive relationship with their child, promote
  prosocial behaviour and reduce disruptive
  behaviour
• Is facilitated over and eight week period and
  includes topics such as play and special time,
  praise and encouragement, choices and
  consequences, planned sanctions, family problem
  solving and using reward systems effectively.
• Currently there are two programmes in
  distribution- notably the Early Years Programme
  (targeted at the needs of pre-school children)
  and the Adolescent Programme (targeted at the
  needs of teenagers) and studies have demonstrated
  their effectiveness in reducing behaviour
  problems and parental stress (Behan et al., 2001
  Sharry et al., 2005).

• Table 1. Demographic Information
• __________________________________________________
  ___
• PT Group
  Comparison Group
• (n24)
  (n14)__________
  
• Mean
  SD Mean SD
• Age of Child (Years) 8.6 1.68
  8.75 1.54
• N
  N
• Gender of Child
• Male 18
  10
• Female 6
  4
• Developmental Delay 3
• Autism/PDD 2
• Speech and Language 1
• Overactivity/Inattention 6
  2
• Behavioural Problems 20
  13
• Emotional Problems 11
  16
• __________________________________________________
  ____
• Results

• Discussion
• The results indicate that the Parents Plus
  Childrens Programme is effective in reducing
  child problem behaviour and parental stress,
  increasing parental confidence and goal
  attainment.
• For the PT Group, the conduct problems
  subscale and the total difficulties of the SDQ
  were in the abnormal range prior to the
  intervention. Post- assessment these scores were
  in the borderline range with a three point
  decrease on the total difficulties and a 1.25
  decrease on the conduct disorders subscale. The
  effect sizes of the interaction effects for these
  variables, and for parent-reported problems and
  goals and parental confidence were large (Cohen,
  1988) indicating clinical relevance for the
  findings.
• Preliminary analysis of five month follow-ups
  suggest these gains are further improved upon.
• Considerable confidence may be placed in the
  results due to several features of the study
• Firstly, the presence of a Comparison Group
  suggests that the improvements in the PT group
  were not a result of maturation and were due to
  the effects of the programme
• Secondly, cases were representative of typical
  referrals to child and adolescent mental health
  services and were difficult cases that had not
  responded to routine services.
• Thirdly, the programme was delivered by trained
  therapists using detailed manuals and videos to
  ensure a high level of programme integrity.
• Fourthly, the key measure assessing change, the
  SDQ, is a well validated, reliable instrument