Adapting Parent–Child Interaction Therapy to Foster Care

Mersky, Joshua P.; Topitzes, James; Grant-Savela, Stacey D.; Brondino, Michael J.; McNeil, Cheryl B.

doi:10.1177/1049731514543023

Cited by 76 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…This study expands our previous results that indicated both the brief and extended models of PCIT were associated with a significant reduction in child externalizing and internalizing symptoms (Mersky, Topitzes, Grant-Savela, Brondino, & McNeil, 2014). In the present study, we assessed intervention impacts on indicators of parenting stress and behavior, guided by three research questions:…”

supporting

confidence: 87%

“…Tests of interactions were conducted between contrast-coded vectors designating the treatment comparisons and linear and quadratic orthogonal polynomial trend contrasts representing time (Mersky et al, 2014). The DPICS-II scores consisted of observational counts, and therefore, a mixed-effects generalized linear model was used to analyze the nonlinear outcomes.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Enhancing Foster Parent Training with Parent-Child Interaction Therapy: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment

Mersky

Topitzes

Janczewski

et al. 2015

Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research

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Objective Research indicates that foster parents often do not receive sufficient training and support to help them meet the demands of caring for foster children with emotional and behavioral disturbances. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is a clinically efficacious intervention for child externalizing problems, and it also has been shown to mitigate parenting stress and enhance parenting attitudes and behaviors. However, PCIT is seldom available to foster families, and it rarely has been tested under intervention conditions that are generalizable to community-based child welfare service contexts. To address this gap, PCIT was adapted and implemented in a field experiment using 2 novel approaches—group-based training and telephone consultation—both of which have the potential to be integrated into usual care. Method This study analyzes 129 foster-parent-child dyads who were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: (a) waitlist control, (b) brief PCIT, and (c) extended PCIT. Self-report and observational data were gathered at multiple time points up to 14 weeks post baseline. Results Findings from mixed-model, repeated measures analyses indicated that the brief and extended PCIT interventions were associated with a significant decrease in self-reported parenting stress. Results from mixed-effects generalized linear models showed that the interventions also led to significant improvements in observed indicators of positive and negative parenting. The brief course of PCIT was as efficacious as the extended PCIT intervention. Conclusions The findings suggest that usual training and support services can be improved upon by introducing foster parents to experiential, interactive PCIT training.

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supporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing Foster Parent Training with Parent-Child Interaction Therapy: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment

Mersky

Topitzes

Janczewski

et al. 2015

Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research

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“…Two of these interventions (PCIT & TF-CBT) were also evaluated in non-adapted forms. The adaptation of PCIT was substantial (see Mersky, Topitzes, Grant-Savela, Brondino & McNeil, 2014 for more details), yet was rigorously tested through a randomized design. The adaptations to IY and TF-CBT were arguably more minor, while also rigorously tested using randomization.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental health interventions for children in foster care: A systematic review

Hambrick¹,

Oppenheim‐Weller²,

N’zi

et al. 2016

Children and Youth Services Review

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Children in foster care have high rates of adverse childhood experiences and are at risk for mental health problems. These problems can be difficult to ameliorate, creating a need for rigorous intervention research. Previous research suggests that intervening with children in foster care can be challenging for several reasons, including the severity and complexity of their mental health problems, and challenges engaging this often transitory population in mental health services. The goal of this article was to systematically review the intervention research that has been conducted with children in foster care, and to identify future research directions. This review was conducted on mental health interventions for children, ages 0 to 12, in foster care, using ERIC, CINAHL, PsycINFO, PubMed, ProQuest’s Dissertation and Theses Database, Social Services Abstracts, and Social Work Abstracts. It was restricted to interventions that are at least “possibly efficacious” (i.e., supported by evidence from at least one randomized controlled trial). Studies were evaluated for risk of bias. Ten interventions were identified, with diverse outcomes, including mental health and physiological. Six interventions were developed for children in foster care. Interventions not developed for children in foster care were typically adapted to the foster context. Most interventions have yet to be rigorously evaluated in community-based settings with children in foster care. Little research has been conducted on child and family engagement within these interventions, and there is a need for more research on moderators of intervention outcomes and subgroups that benefit most from these interventions. In addition, there is not consensus regarding how to adapt interventions to this population. Future research should focus on developing and testing more interventions with this population, rigorously evaluating their effectiveness in community-based settings, determining necessary adaptations, and identifying which interventions work best for whom.

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“…Most studies of PCIT with children with histories of maltreatment have focused on biological parents (Chaffin et al, 2004; Chaffin, Funderburk, Bard,Valle, & Gurwitch, 2011) or traditional foster caregivers (McNeil, Herschell, Gurwitch, & Clemens-Mowrer, 2005; Mersky, Topitzes, Grant-Savela, Brondino, & McNeil, 2014; Mersky, Topitzes, Janczewski, & McNeil, 2015) using full-protocol PCIT. A randomized trial of PCIT as a foster parent training model for non-kinship foster parents caring for children with externalizing behavior problems in the clinical range demonstrated improvement in both child externalizing and internalizing child symptoms (Mersky et al, 2014) as well as caregiver parenting stress (Mersky et al, 2015).…”

Section: Child Directed Interaction Trainingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A randomized trial of PCIT as a foster parent training model for non-kinship foster parents caring for children with externalizing behavior problems in the clinical range demonstrated improvement in both child externalizing and internalizing child symptoms (Mersky et al, 2014) as well as caregiver parenting stress (Mersky et al, 2015). However, kinship caregivers were intentionally excluded from these studies.…”

Section: Child Directed Interaction Trainingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child Directed Interaction Training for young children in kinship care: A pilot study

N’zi

Stevens

Eyberg

2016

Child Abuse & Neglect

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This pilot study used a randomized controlled trial design to examine the feasibility and explore initial outcomes of a twice weekly, 8-session Child Directed Interaction Training (CDIT) program for children living in kinship care. Participants included 14 grandmothers and great-grandmothers with their 2- to 7-year-old children randomized either to CDIT or a waitlist control condition. Training was delivered at a local, community library with high fidelity to the training protocol. There was no attrition in either condition. After training, kinship caregivers in the CDIT condition demonstrated more positive relationships with their children during behavioral observation. The caregivers in the CDIT condition also reported clinically and statistically significant decreases in parenting stress and caregiver depression, as well as fewer externalizing child behavior problems than waitlist controls. Parent daily report measures indicated significant changes in disciplining that included greater use of limit-setting and less use of critical verbal force. Results appeared stable at 3-month follow-up. Changes in child internalizing behaviors and caregiver use of non-critical verbal force were not seen until 3-month follow-up. Results of this pilot study suggest both the feasibility of conducting full scale randomized clinical trials of CDIT in the community and the promise of this approach for providing effective parent training for kinship caregivers.

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Adapting Parent–Child Interaction Therapy to Foster Care

Cited by 76 publications

References 55 publications

Enhancing Foster Parent Training with Parent-Child Interaction Therapy: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment

Enhancing Foster Parent Training with Parent-Child Interaction Therapy: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment

Mental health interventions for children in foster care: A systematic review

Child Directed Interaction Training for young children in kinship care: A pilot study

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