Abstract
Short-term and long-term predictors of therapeutic change due to parent management training were investigated. Therapeutic change was defined as the change in outcome measures [externalizing problem behavior and parenting self-efficacy (PSE)] from before treatment to afterward. Three different types of predictors were analyzed: child variables (gender, age, and initial externalizing and internalizing behavior), parent variables (age, initial PSE and parental psychopathology) and socioeconomic status and other sociodemographic characteristics of the family (parental school education, employment, family status, language). The parent management training was part of the Prevention Program for Externalizing Problem Behavior, which was evaluated as an effectiveness trial under routine care conditions using a within-subject control group design. Between 78 and 270 families were included in the analysis, which investigated therapeutic change over two time intervals: (1) immediate change from the pre-treatment to the post-treatment assessments, and (2) long-term-change from pre-treatment to 1-year follow-up. Throughout several analyses, the only predictor of therapeutic change that was consistently significant over the two time periods for the externalizing problem behavior of the child was the initial externalizing problem behavior. More impaired children improved more. Similarly, the only predictor of therapeutic change for the two time periods in PSE was the initial level of PSE. Parents with less PSE gained more during the course of the training.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Achenbach TM (1991) Manual for the child behavior checklist/4–18 and 1991 profile. Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont, Burlington
American Psychiatric Association (1994) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC
Arcelus J, Vostanis P (2005) Psychiatric comorbidity in children and adolescents. Curr. Opin. Psychiatry 18:429–434
Beauchaine TP, Webster-Stratton C, Reid MJ (2005) Mediators, moderators and predictors of 1-year outcome among children treated for early-onset conduct problems: a latent growth curve analysis. J Consult Clin Psychol 73:371–388
Bollen KA (1989) Structural equations with latent variables. Wiley, Oxford
Bower P, Gilbody S (2005) Stepped care in psychological therapies: access, effectiveness and efficiency—narrative literature review. Br J Psychiatry 186:11–17
Brestan EV, Eyberg SM (1998) Effective psychosocial treatments of conduct-disordered children and adolescents: 29 years, 82 studies, and 5, 272 kids. J Clin Child Psychol 27:180–189
Brown TA (2006) Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research. Guilford Press, New York
Chronis AM, Jones HA, Raggi VL (2006) Evidence-based psychosocial treatments for children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Clin Psychol Rev 26:486–502
Cohen J (1988) Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Erlbaum, Hillsdale
Coleman PK, Karraker KH (2000) Parenting self-efficacy among mothers of school-age children: conceptualization, measurement, and correlates. Fam Relat 49:13–24
Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group (2002) Predictor variables associated with positive fast track outcomes at the end of third grade. J Abnorm Child Psychol 30:37–52
Connor DF, Carlson GA, Chang KD, Daniolos PT, Ferziger R, Findling RL, Hutchinson JG, Malone RP, Halperin JM, Plattner B, Post RM, Reynolds DL, Rogers KM, Saxena K, Steiner H (2006) Juvenile maladaptive aggression: a review of prevention, treatment, and service configuration and a proposed research agenda. J Clin Psychiatry 67:808–820
Crawford JR, Henry JD (2003) The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS): normative data and latent structure in a large non-clinical sample. Br J Clin Psychol 42:111–131
Davison GC (2000) Stepped care: doing more with less? J Consult Clin Psychol 68:580–585
Döpfner M, Berner W, Schmeck K, Lehmkuhl G, Poustka F (1995) Internal consistencies and validity of the CBCL and the TRF in a German sample: a cross-cultural comparison. In: Sergeant J (ed) Eunethydis: European approaches to hyperkinetic disorder. Egg, Zürich, pp 51–81
Döpfner M, Görtz-Dorten A, Lehmkuhl G (2008) DISYPS-II: Diagnostik-System für psychische Störungen im Kindes- und Jugendalter nach ICD-10 und DSM-IV [DISYPS-II: diagnostic system for psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents]. Hans Huber, Bern
Eyberg SM, Nelson MM, Boggs SR (2008) Evidence-based psychosocial treatments for children and adolescents with disruptive behavior. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol 37:215–237
Fabiano GA, Pelham WEJ, Manos MJ, Gnagy EM, Chronis AM, Onyango AN, Lopez-Williams A, Burrows-MacLean L, Coles EK, Meichenbaum DL, Caserta DA, Swain S (2004) An evaluation of three time-out procedures for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Behav Ther 35:449–469
Farmer EMZ, Compton SN, Burns BJ, Robertson E (2002) Review of the evidence base for treatment of childhood psychopathology: externalizing disorders. J Consult Clin Psychol 70:1267–1302
Hautmann C, Hanisch C, Mayer I, Plück J, Döpfner M (2008) Effectiveness of the prevention program for externalizing problem behaviour (PEP) in children with symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant disorder—generalization to the real world. J Neural Transm 115:363–370
Hautmann C, Hoijtink H, Eichelberger I, Hanisch C, Plück J, Walter D, Döpfner M (2009) 1-Year follow-up of a parent management training for children with externalizing behavior problems in the real world. Behav Cogn Psychother 37:379–396
Hautmann C, Stein P, Eichelberger I, Plück J, Walter D, Döpfner M (2009) The severely impaired do profit most: differential effectiveness of a parent management training for children with externalizing behavior problems in a natural setting. J Abnorm Child Psy (under review)
Hautmann C, Stein P, Hanisch C, Eichelberger I, Plück J, Walter D, Döpfner M (2009) Does parent management training for children with externalizing problem behavior in routine care result in clinically significant changes? Psychother Res 19:224–233
Hawkins JD, Von Cleve E, Catalano RF (1991) Reducing early childhood aggression: results of a primary prevention program. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 30:208–217
Hemphill SA, Littlefield L (2006) Child and family predictors of therapy outcome for children with behavioral and emotional problems. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 36:329–349
Hollingshead AB (1975) Four factor index of social status. Yale University Department of Sociology, New Haven
Ialongo NS, Rogosch FA, Cicchetti D, Toth SL, Buckley J, Petras H, Neiderhiser J (2006) A developmental psychopathology approach to the prevention of mental health disorders. In: Cicchetti D, Cohen DJ (eds) Developmental psychopathology. Wiley, Hoboken, pp 968–1018
Jacobson NS, Roberts LJ, Berns SB, McGlinchey JB (1999) Methods for defining and determining the clinical significance of treatment effects: description, application, and alternatives. J Consult Clin Psychol 67:300–307
Jacobson NS, Truax P (1991) Clinical significance: a statistical approach to defining meaningful change in psychotherapy research. J Consult Clin Psychol 59:12–19
Johnston C, Mash EJ (1989) A measure of parenting satisfaction and efficacy. J Clin Child Psychol 18:167–175
Jöreskog K, Sörbom D (2006) LISREL (version 8.80) [computer software]. Scientific Software International, Lincolnwood
Kazdin AE, Wassell G (2000) Predictors of barriers to treatment and therapeutic change in outpatient therapy for antisocial children and their families. Ment Health Serv Res 2:27–40
Kazdin AE, Whitley MK (2006) Comorbidity, case complexity, and effects of evidence-based treatment for children referred for disruptive behavior. J Consult Clin Psychol 74:455–467
Kline RB (2005) Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. Guilford Press, New York
Lambert MJ, Hansen NB, Bauer S (2008) Assessing the clinical significance of outcome results. In: Nezu AM, Nezu CM (eds) Evidence-based outcome research: a practical guide to conducting randomized controlled trials for psychosocial interventions. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 359–378
Lovibond SH, Lovibond PF (1995) Manual for the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales. Psychology Foundation of Australia, Sydney
Lundahl B, Risser HJ, Lovejoy MC (2006) A meta-analysis of parent training: moderators and follow-up effects. Clin Psychol Rev 26:86–104
Maas CJM, Hox J (2005) Sufficient sample sizes for multilevel modeling. Methodology 1:86–92
MacCallum RC, Browne MW, Sugawara HM (1996) Power analysis and determination of sample size for covariance structure modeling. Psychol Methods 1:130–149
MacKenzie EP, Fite PJ, Bates JE (2004) Predicting outcome in behavioral parent training: expected and unexpected results. Child Fam Behav Ther 26:37–53
McCart MR, Priester PE, Davies WH, Azen R (2006) Differential effectiveness of behavioral parent-training and cognitive-behavioral therapy for antisocial youth: a meta-analysis. J Abnorm Child Psychol 34:527–543
McGlinchey JB, Atkins DC, Jacobson NS (2002) Clinical significance methods: which one to use and how useful are they? Behav Ther 33:529–550
Muñoz RF, Mrazek PJ, Haggerty RJ (1996) Institute of Medicine report on prevention of mental disorders: summary and commentary. Am Psychol 51:1116–1122
NICHD Early Child Care Research Network (2004) Trajectories of physical aggression from toddlerhood to middle childhood. Monogr Soc Res Child Dev 69:vii–146
Nixon RDV (2002) Treatment of behavior problems in preschoolers: a review of parent training programs. Clin Psychol Rev 22:525–546
Ogles BM, Lunnen KM, Bonesteel K (2001) Clinical significance: history, application, and current practice. Clin Psychol Rev 21:421–446
Owens EB, Hinshaw SP, Kraemer HC, Arnold LE, Abikoff HB, Cantwell DP, Conners CK, Elliott G, Greenhill LL, Hechtman L, Hoza B, Jensen PS, March JS, Newcorn JH, Pelham WE, Severe JB, Swanson JM, Vitiello B, Wells KC (2003) Which treatment for whom for ADHD? Moderators of treatment response in MTA. J Consult Clin Psychol 71:522–540
Plück J, Wieczorrek E, Wolff Metternich T, Döpfner M (2006) Präventionsprogramm für Expansives Problemverhalten (PEP): Ein Manual für Eltern- und Erziehergruppen [Prevention Program for Expansive Behavior Problems (PEP): a manual for parents and educational personnel]. Hogrefe, Göttingen
Reid MJ, Webster-Stratton C, Baydar N (2004) Halting the development of conduct problems in head start children: the effects of parent training. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol 33:279–291
Rieppi R, Greenhill LL, Ford RE, Chuang S, Wu M, Davies M, Abikoff HBA, Arnold LE, Conners CK, Elliott GR, Hechtman L, Hinshaw SP, Hoza B, Jensen PS, Kraemer HC, March JS, Newcorn JH, Pelham WE, Severe JB, Swanson JM, Vitiello B, Wells KC, Wigal T (2002) Socioeconomic status as a moderator of ADHD treatment outcomes. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 41:269–277
Sanders MR, Markie-Dadds C, Tully LA, Bor W (2000) The Triple P—Positive Parenting Program: a comparison of enhanced, standard, and self-directed behavioral family intervention for parents of children with early onset conduct problems. J Consult Clin Psychol 68:624–640
Serketich WJ, Dumas JE (1996) The effectiveness of behavioral parent training to modify antisocial behavior in children: a meta-analysis. Behav Ther 27:171–186
Sonuga-Barke EJS, Daley D, Thompson M, Laver-Bradbury C, Weeks A (2001) Parent-based therapies for preschool attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a randomised, controlled trial with a community sample. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 40:402–408
Sonuga-Barke EJS, Thompson M, Daley D, Laver-Bradbury C (2004) Parent training for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: is it as effective when delivered as routine rather than as specialist care? Br J Clin Psychol 43:449–457
Stoolmiller M, Eddy JM, Reid MJ (2000) Detecting and describing preventive intervention effects in a universal school-based randomized trial targeting delinquent and violent behavior. J Consult Clin Psychol 68:296–306
Swanson JM, Kraemer HC, Hinshaw SP, Arnold LE, Conners CK, Abikoff HB, Clevenger W, Davies M, Elliott GR, Greenhill LL, Hechtman L, Hoza B, Jensen PS, March JS, Newcorn JH, Owens EB, Pelham WE, Schiller E, Severe JB, Simpson S, Vitiello B, Wells K, Wigal T, Wu M (2001) Clinical relevance of the primary findings of the MTA: success rates based on severity of ADHD and ODD symptoms at the end of treatment. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 40:168–179
van Bokhoven I, Matthys W, van Goozen SHM, van Engeland H (2005) Prediction of adolescent outcome in children with disruptive behaviour disorders: a study of neurobiological, psychological and family factors. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 14:153–163
Werba BE, Eyberg SM, Boggs SR, Algina J (2006) Predicting outcome in parent–child interaction therapy: success and attrition. Behav Modif 30:618–646
Wilson SJ, Lipsey MW, Derzon JH (2003) The effects of school-based intervention programs on aggressive behavior: a meta-analysis. J Consult Clin Psychol 71:136–149
World Health Organization (1993) The ICD-10 classification of mental and behavioural disorders: diagnostic criteria for research. World Health Organization, Geneva
Acknowledgments
The study was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG; DFG grant DO 620/2). We thank all the families who participated in PEP and all the institutions and trainers who offered the training. We kindly thank Deirdre Elmhirst for carefully reading the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hautmann, C., Eichelberger, I., Hanisch, C. et al. The severely impaired do profit most: short-term and long-term predictors of therapeutic change for a parent management training under routine care conditions for children with externalizing problem behavior. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 19, 419–430 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-009-0072-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-009-0072-1