The purpose of this research program is to develop, evaluate and compare cost effective and widely applicable programs of treatment for families of conduct disordered children. This continuation grant proposes to systematically compare the long term effectiveness of three parent training treatment approaches: (1) a group discussion approach, (2) a videotape modeling group discussion approach, and (3) a completely self- administered videotape approach. In addition, it proposes to compare the short and long term effectiveness of two """"""""self-help"""""""" videotape modeling treatment approaches.
The specific aims are to do intensive followup assessments on 145 families with conduct disordered children who were randomly assigned to one of the four treatment programs. Families will be assessed by means of videotape and home observations, parent questionnaires, bi-weekly telephone reports and comprehensive teacher reports. In addition, followup information about family life stresses, marital discord, family support, and personality factors will be obtained in order to analyze possible predictors of long term treatment successes or relapses. The long term objective of this research is to develop parent training programs which have a wide range of potential uses to meet the heavy demands for children's mental health services. The programs assessed in this study have been designed so as to be cost effective and readily available to large numbers of people with a minimal amount of professional time. They should be used by those nurses on the front-line in public health centers and schools both as programs designed to prevent the occurrence of child conduct disorders as well as to treat less severe behavior problems. These programs also should be used by mental health professionals from several disciplines to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of treatment for child conduct problems.
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