Tackling behavioral problems in children

Parents of young children with severe behavioral problems are receiving specialized therapy at Central Michigan University to improve their disciplinary techniques and enhance the quality of their relationships with their children.

CMU's Parent-Child Interaction Therapy Clinic, which opened in 2000, is one of only five university-based clinics in the country that are dedicated to training graduate students in the Parent-Child Interaction Therapy technique, conducting research to improve services for children with conduct problems and serving families in their communities. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, developed by Dr. Sheila Eyberg at the University of Florida, is an evidence-based, positive and intensive treatment designed to help families improve the quality of the parent-child relationship and to teach parents new skills to manage their children's behavior.

"Children with disruptive behaviors are at risk for poor school adjustment, antisocial activities and peer problems; early intervention can decrease parent stress, increase family functioning and prevent more negative outcomes," said Larissa Niec, CMU psychology professor and founder of the clinic.

Unlike common therapy programs that involve parents getting advice from a therapist followed by return visits to report their progress at home, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy involves therapists observing parents and children through a two-way mirror and coaching the parents through a microphone connected to an earpiece worn by the parents. This enables the parents to immediately put into practice what they've learned.

"We offer a state-of-the-science intervention to an underserved population of overburdened families," said Niec.

Through a three-year National Institute of Mental Health grant received in 2005, the Parent-Child Interaction Therapy Clinic's HOPE Program studies group treatment for children between three and six years of age who exhibit behavior problems that are beyond what is considered normal for their age. Families, physicians, educators, daycare workers, the Department of Human Services and other health care professionals refer these children to the clinic, where families receive free, comprehensive assessment of the children's behavior problems and, if appropriate, also receive Parent-Child Interaction Therapy.

Throughout the 15-week program, groups of two to five families whose children share similar behavioral problems work under the leadership of two therapists. The parents take turns interacting with their children while several parents observe in another room.

"Without treatment, these children may get progressively worse," said Niec. "Their behavioral problems may lead to delinquency, which costs our society a great deal."