This study evaluates the outcomes of a 15-month family-focused, support intervention for parents of children with serious emotional or behavioral disturbances and who are between 9 to 14 years old. Parents play a critical role in determining child mental health outcomes by assuring that their children receive needed mental health services and by working collaboratively with mental health professionals to develop treatment plans and maximize outcomes. However, little information is available on how family-focused interventions can enhance parents' capacity to play this critical role or the effect of such interventions on mental health outcomes for children and parents. The primary goals of the intervention are to improve children's emotional and/or behavioral functioning and decrease maternal symptoms of depression and anxiety. the intervention will be evaluated using a randomized, repeated measures controlled trial design with 300 families of children aged 9 to 14. Data will be collected at enrollment, at the end of the intervention, and 12 months after the intervention. We hypothesize that the intervention will achieve its goals by enhancing parents' psychological and social resources. The intervention aims to enhance these resources by increasing parents' 1) know of the causes of children's mental health problems and key strategies for both managing behavioral problems and collaborating with mental health professionals, 2) perceived availability of specific types of social support, and 3) sense of efficacy.
| DeVet, Katherine A; Kim, Young J; Charlot-Swilley, Dominique et al. (2003) The therapeutic relationship in child therapy: perspectives of children and mothers. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol 32:277-83 |
