Behavior modification with children has been popularized through television shows such as "Super Nanny" and "Nanny 911". The popularity of these shows may be related to the demand parents have for improving their children's behavior. Interestingly, an approach adopted by "The Dog Whisperer" may prove effective when used with children. The purpose…

Empirical examination of components of behavioral parent training programs is necessary to inform treatment effectiveness and efficiency; however, comprehensive research on many components is lacking. The current study examined two parenting components utilized in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy by investigating the effects of behavioral…

This study included brief functional analyses and treatment for motor tics exhibited by two children with Tourette Syndrome. Brief functional analyses were conducted in an outpatient treatment center and results were used to develop individualized habit reversal procedures. Treatment data were collected in clinic for one child and in clinic and…

Direct observation is often considered the "gold standard" for assessing the function, frequency, and intensity of problem behavior. Currently, the literature investigating the construct validity of direct observation conducted in the clinic setting reveals conflicting results. Previous studies on the construct validity of clinic-based…

We report a study that addressed behavior data recording by direct-care staff at a child services program. In response to a decreasing percentage of daily data recording in two community-based group homes, a supervisory intervention was implemented, consisting of a revised data recording form and providing performance feedback to the direct-care…

This study served as a pilot evaluation of the efficacy of the 1-2-3 Magic Program (Phelan, 2003) as a brief parenting intervention for families with a school-aged child. Nine Australian families assigned to either a wait-listed control group (n = 4) or to one that received immediate intervention (n = 5), participated in a randomized controlled…

This study evaluated the inclusion of uncoded segments in the Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System, an analogue observation of parent-child interactions. The relationships between warm-up and coded segments were assessed, as well as the segments' associations with parent ratings of parent and child behaviors. Sixty-nine non-referred…

Historically, research demonstrates that mothers' attitudes and characteristics of their parenting are intertwined. More recently, mothers' perceptions of their children are becoming a new focus of interest. To further understand the relationships among mothers' perceptions of their young children, their parenting behaviors, and their ratings of…

This is the second study to investigate the clinical use of the Parent-Instruction Game with Youngsters (PIGGY) which is a structured observation system derived from the Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System II (DPICS-II; Eyberg, Bessmer, Newcomb, Edwards, & Robinson, 1994) and the Behavior Coding System (BCS; Forehand & McMahon, 1981). In…

This study evaluated the clinical significance of measuring between session parental adherence on child and parent outcomes for 51 children (age 4 to 8.5 years) with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in a multimodal group training program. Three group treatment conditions: (a) child-only treatment (C1), (c) child and parent training…

Maternal dysphoria predicts behavioral difficulties in preschool-aged children, and may contribute to negative child outcomes by exacerbating parenting stress. Parenting stress increases the likelihood of maladaptive parenting practices, especially when mothers face multiple contextual stressors. We explored maternal experiential avoidance (EA) as…

Problem-solving skills training (PSST) has been proposed as a potentially effective addition to behavioral parent training (PT). However, it is not clear whether PSST specifically increases the benefits provided by PT. In this study, PT + PSST was compared to PT + nondirective therapy in a sample of 26 families. All parents received PT. Following…

The use of parenting measures that are developed for use with Western families without testing their validity among families from non-Western cultural backgrounds may not be appropriate. Similar parenting behaviors may affect child outcomes in different ways across different cultures. This study examined the cross-cultural validity of an…

Little is known about how pediatric trichotillomania (TTM), a clinically significant and functionally impairing disorder, is impacted by, and impacts, family functioning. We explored dimensions of family functioning and parental attitudes in a sample of children and adolescents who participated in an Internet-based survey and satisfied…

The effectiveness of a parenting program was examined with an Australian sample regarding improved parent knowledge, parental sense of competence, and child behavior. One hundred and sixteen parents and their children were randomly assigned to three conditions: a two-session group based intervention, a two-session self-administered individual…