The objectives of this proposed research are to examine alternative techniques to treat conduct problem children and strategies to maintain therapeutic changes after treatment has been terminated. The research will examine treatments for aggressive behavior of children ages 6-12 who are hospitalized in a short-term intensive psychiatric care facility for their acute psychiatric and behavioral disorders. The major goal is to evaluate the efficacy of parent training and self-instruction training procedures. These treatments focus on family interaction patterns and cognitive mediation deficits, respectively, which have been identified as problematic among conduct problem children. The proposed investigations will begin treatment in the hospital which will be continued on an outpatient basis so that the treatment can be implemented and evaluated in the context of performance outside of the clinic setting. The investigations will compare the separate and combined effects of parent and self-instruction training. In addition, the research will examine maintenance strategies involving self-help materials for parents, telephone contact, and direct patient contact separately and combined as part of a """"""""booster session"""""""" maintenance program.
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