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Home > Parent-Child Interaction Therapy With At-Risk Families > Effectiveness of PCIT
Parent-Child Interaction Therapy With At-Risk Families
Issue Brief
Author(s): Child Welfare Information Gateway
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| Year Published: 2007 |
Effectiveness of PCIT
The effectiveness of PCIT is supported by a growing body of research and increasingly identified on inventories of model and promising treatment programs.
Demonstrated Effectiveness in Outcome Studies
At least 30 randomized clinical outcome studies have found PCIT to be useful in treating at-risk families and children with behavioral problems. Research findings include the following:
- Reductions in the risk of child abuse. In a study of 110 physically abusive parents, only one-fifth (19%) of the parents participating in PCIT had re-reports of physically abusing their children after 850 days, compared to half (49%) of the parents attending a typical community parenting group (Chaffin et al., 2004). Reductions in the risk of abuse following treatment were confirmed by another recent study among parents who had maltreated their children (Timmer, Urquiza, Zebell, & McGrath, 2005).
- Improvements in parenting skills and attitudes. Research reveals that parents and caretakers completing PCIT typically demonstrate improvements in reflective listening skills, use more prosocial verbalization, direct fewer sarcastic comments and critical statements at their children, improve physical closeness to their children, and show more positive parenting attitudes (Hembree-Kigin & McNeil, 1995).
- Improvements in child behavior. A review of 17 studies that included 628 preschool-age children identified as exhibiting a disruptive behavior disorder concluded that involvement in PCIT resulted in significant improvements in child behavior functioning. Commonly reported behavioral outcomes of PCIT included both less frequent and less intense behavior problems as reported by parents and teachers, increases in clinic- observed compliance, reductions in inattention and hyperactivity, decreases in observed negative behaviors such as whining or crying, and reductions in the percentage of children who qualify for a diagnosis of disruptive behavior disorder (Gallagher, 2003).
- Benefits for parents and other caregivers. Examining PCIT effectiveness among foster parents participating with their foster children and biological parents referred for treatment because of their children’s behavioral problems, researchers found decreases in child behavior problems and caregiver distress for both groups (Timmer, Urquiza, & Zebell, 2005).
- Lasting effectiveness. Follow-up studies report that treatment gains are maintained over time (Eyberg et al., 2001; Hood & Eyberg, 2003).
- Usefulness in treating multiple issues. Adapted versions of PCIT also have been shown to be effective in treating other issues such as separation anxiety, depression, self-injurious behavior, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and adjustment following divorce (Johnson, Franklin, Hall, & Preito, 2000; Pincus, Choate, Eyberg, & Barlow, 2005).
- Adaptability for a variety of populations. Studies support the benefits of PCIT across genders and across a variety of ethnic groups (Capage, Bennett, & McNeil, 2001; Chadwick Center on Children and Families, 2004; McCabe, 2005).
Recognition as an Evidence-Based Practice
Based on systematic reviews of available research and evaluation studies, several groups of experts and Federal agencies have highlighted PCIT as a model program or promising treatment practice, including:
- Closing the Quality Chasm in Child Abuse Treatment: Identifying and Disseminating Best Practices (Chadwick Center, 2004); http://www.chadwickcenter.org/kauffman.htm
- The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (Empirically Supported Treatments and Promising Practices, supported by The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2005) www.nctsn.org/nccts/nav.do?pid=ctr_top_trmnt_prom
- Child Physical and Sexual Abuse: Guidelines for Treatment (Saunders, Berliner, & Hanson, Eds., National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center and The Center for Sexual Assault and Traumatic Stress; Office for Victims of Crime, U.S. Department of Justice, 2004) http://musc.edu/ncvc/resources_prof/OVC_guidelines04-26-04.pdf
- Evidence-Based Treatment for Children and Adolescents (The Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, a division of the American Psychological Association, and the Network on Youth and Mental Health) www.effectivechildtherapy.com
- Youth Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General (Elliott, Hatot, & Sirovatka, Eds., U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001) www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/youthviolence/
- The California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (2006) www.cachildwelfareclearinghouse.org/
This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare Information Gateway.
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