This study examined the specificity of relations between parent / caregiver behaviors and childhood internalizing and externalizing problems in a sample of 70 fourth grade children (64% male, mean age = 9.7 years). Specificity was assessed via (a) unique effects, (b) differential effects, and (c) interactive effects. When measured as unique and differential effects, specificity was not found for warmth or psychological control but was found for caregiver's use of behavior control. Higher levels of behavior control were uniquely related to lower levels of externalizing problems and higher levels of internalizing problems; differential effects analyses indicated that higher levels of behavior control were related to decreases in the within-child difference in relative levels of level of internalizing vs. externalizing problems. Interactive relations among the three parenting behavior dimensions also were identified. Although caregivers emphasized different parenting behavior dimensions across two separate caregiver-child interaction tasks, relations between parenting behavior dimensions and child psychopathology did not vary as a function of task. These findings indicate the importance of assessing and simultaneously analyzing multiple parenting behavior dimensions and multiple child psychopathology domains.Forty years of parenting research have produced consensus regarding the importance of several dimensions of parenting behavior, including behavior control, psychological control, and warmth/support (e.g., Gray & Steinberg, 1999). Yet the precise nature of the relation of these parenting dimensions to child psychopathology remains unclear. For example, there is not yet consensus as to whether parenting behavior dimensions are best considered as categorical parenting styles (e.g., authoritative parenting, authoritarian parenting; Baumrind, 1991) based on simultaneous consideration of multiple dimensions, or as independent, continuous dimensions (e.g., psychological control; behavior control; Barber, 1996).Underlying the use of parenting style typologies (as opposed to separate dimensions of parenting) are several assumptions about the nature of parenting behaviors, including the belief that (a) parenting behaviors are themselves correlated (e.g., parents who are warm tend to use positive behavior control strategies), and thus parenting behaviors should be NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript considered in clusters rather than separately; and (b) the effects of one type of parenting behavior on children are dependent on the presence or absence of other parenting behaviors (i.e., parenting behaviors have interactive effects on child outcomes), and thus typologies should simultaneously consider multiple parenting behaviors. Although many studies have failed to find interactions among parenting behaviors in the prediction of child psychopathology (e.g., Barber, Olsen, & Shagle, 1994;Garber, Robinson, & Valentiner, 1997), others have found some evidence for interactive rel...

It has been argued that group treatment of antisocial adolescents may increase rather than decrease conduct problems. One mechanism that has been suggested to underlie this effect is "deviancy training," wherein during group sessions deviant peers reinforce each other's antisocial actions and words. These 2 hypotheses have important implications and warrant close review at conceptual and empirical levels. In this article, the authors present such a review. Conceptually, deviancy training potential of treatment sessions appears less significant than the more extensive peer influences outside treatment. Empirical findings previously cited in support of iatrogenic effects appear on close examination to provide little support. Finally, 17 of 18 new meta-analytic tests produced results not supportive of iatrogenic or deviancy training effects.

Objective Adolescent conduct problems exact serious social as well as personal costs, and effective treatments are essential. One of the most widely disseminated and effective programs for the treatment of serious conduct problems in adolescents is Multisystemic Therapy (MST). However, most evaluations of MST have involved the developers of MST. The purpose of the present study was to conduct an independent evaluation of MST, with non-court-referred adolescents with conduct problems. Method Participants were 164 adolescents aged 11 to 18 years who were recruited from self-contained behavior intervention classrooms in public schools. Adolescents and their families were randomly assigned to receive MST or services as usual. Outcome measures assessed conduct problems, school functioning, and court records of criminal behavior. Participants were followed for 18 months after baseline using parent, adolescent, and teacher reports; arrest data were collected for 2.5 years post-baseline. Results Two of four primary outcome measures focused on externalizing problems showed significant treatment effects favoring MST. Several secondary and intervention targets pertaining to family functioning and parent psychopathology showed positive effects of MST, and no negative effects were identified. Conclusions Results provide some further support for the effectiveness of MST, although smaller effect sizes than previous studies also suggest the complexity of successful dissemination, particularly to non-court-referred populations.

Psychoeducation is often used for family members of adult patients with mood disorders. An increase in family's knowledge of the patient's illness course and outcome is thought to improve treatment compliance and may reduce relapse rates through identification of early symptoms and risks. While studies on familybased psychoeducation of adult patients with mood disorders have been reviewed, a similar review has not been conducted in patients who are children and adolescents. We conducted a systematic review of studies published between 1980 and 2006 on independently standing psychoeducation programs for families with children suffering from mood disorders. Results revealed eight treatment and preventive psychoeducation studies for families of affectively ill children or children at risk for depression. Findings indicate that psychoeducation models typically adopt a workshop approach incorporating didactic teachings and interactive discussion sessions, with or without specific skills training. Given the paucity of randomized controlled trials and lack of comparability between psychoeducation models, conclusions about the true efficacy of each program as a treatment or an adjunct to the treatment of mood disorders in children and adolescents cannot be made. Further research into psychoeducation for families of children with mood disorders is warranted.

The quality of the therapeutic alliance has been shown to be an important predictor of adolescent treatment outcome (e.g., Shirk & Karver, 2003). For adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), commitment to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) can often be tenuous, given the anxietyprovoking nature of some of the treatment components (e.g., exposure). Moreover, children with OCD often have a history of being misunderstood or reprimanded by parents, teachers, and other adults, which makes them wary of therapists' intentions. Thus, in this population, the need for explicit attention to engagement of the adolescents and their families is particularly important to maintain regular attendance and prevent premature treatment dropout. In this chapter, we briefly review cognitive-behavioral techniques used in treating OCD and then outline six important clinical engagement strategies for working with adolescents and their families. Although many of the engagement strategies discussed have already been incorporated into empirically supported cognitive-behavioral treatments, the purpose of this chapter is to elaborate on them in more detail and discuss their application in clinical practice.OCD is a chronic and debilitating condition that often initially presents during childhood or adolescence. Although OCD was once thought to