Evidence-Based Treatment in Practice: PCIT Research on Addressing Individual Differences and Diversity Through the Lens of 20 Years of Service

Shawna M Campbell,1 Tanya Hawes,1 Kellie Swan,1 Rae Thomas,2,3 Melanie J Zimmer-Gembeck1,4 1School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia; 2Tropical Australian Academic Health Centre, Townsville, QLD, Australia; 3College of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook Universit...

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Main Authors: Campbell SM, Hawes T, Swan K, Thomas R, Zimmer-Gembeck MJ
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Dove Medical Press 2023-07-01
Series:Psychology Research and Behavior Management
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.dovepress.com/evidence-based-treatment-in-practice-pcit-research-on-addressing-indiv-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-PRBM
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author Campbell SM
Hawes T
Swan K
Thomas R
Zimmer-Gembeck MJ
author_facet Campbell SM
Hawes T
Swan K
Thomas R
Zimmer-Gembeck MJ
author_sort Campbell SM
collection DOAJ
description Shawna M Campbell,1 Tanya Hawes,1 Kellie Swan,1 Rae Thomas,2,3 Melanie J Zimmer-Gembeck1,4 1School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia; 2Tropical Australian Academic Health Centre, Townsville, QLD, Australia; 3College of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia; 4Griffith Centre for Mental Health, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, AustraliaCorrespondence: Melanie J Zimmer-Gembeck, School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Parklands Drive, G40_7.86, Southport, Gold Coast, QLD, 4222, Australia, Tel +61 07 5678 9085, Email m.zimmer-gembeck@griffith.edu.auAbstract: Parent–Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is an intensive parent support program for caregivers and their children who exhibit difficult-to-manage disruptive behaviors. After more than four decades of research supporting its efficacy for reducing children’s disruptive behaviors and improving parent–child relationships, PCIT has become one of the most popular and widely disseminated parenting support programs in the world. The evidence for the efficacy of PCIT can be found in many reviews of randomized clinical trials and other rigorous studies. To add to those reviews, our aim was to provide practical guidance on how PCIT can be part of an evidence-based program for families that depends on practitioner expertise, as well as attention to families’ diverse needs. To do this, we describe the evolution of PCIT as practiced in a university-community partnership that has continued for over 20 years, alongside a narrative description of selected and recent findings on PCIT and its use in specific client presentations across four themes. These themes include studies of 1) whether the standard manualized form of PCIT is efficacious across a selection of diverse family situations and child diagnoses, 2) the mechanisms of change that explain why some parents and some children might benefit more or less from PCIT, 3) whether treatment content modifications make PCIT more feasible to implement or acceptable to some families, at the same time as achieving the same or better outcomes, and 4) whether PCIT with structural modifications to the delivery, such as online or intensive delivery, yields similar outcomes as standard PCIT. Finally, we discuss how these directions in research have influenced research and practice, and end with a summary of how the growing attention on parent and child emotion regulation and parents’ responses to (and coaching of) their children’s emotions has become important to PCIT theory and our practice.Keywords: parent–child interaction therapy, parent support, child externalizing behavior, emotion regulation, autism spectrum disorder, evidence-based practice
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spelling doaj.art-c224344a55204b63b18cdf74eb5173792023-07-16T16:02:53ZengDove Medical PressPsychology Research and Behavior Management1179-15782023-07-01Volume 162599261785079Evidence-Based Treatment in Practice: PCIT Research on Addressing Individual Differences and Diversity Through the Lens of 20 Years of ServiceCampbell SMHawes TSwan KThomas RZimmer-Gembeck MJShawna M Campbell,1 Tanya Hawes,1 Kellie Swan,1 Rae Thomas,2,3 Melanie J Zimmer-Gembeck1,4 1School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia; 2Tropical Australian Academic Health Centre, Townsville, QLD, Australia; 3College of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia; 4Griffith Centre for Mental Health, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, AustraliaCorrespondence: Melanie J Zimmer-Gembeck, School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Parklands Drive, G40_7.86, Southport, Gold Coast, QLD, 4222, Australia, Tel +61 07 5678 9085, Email m.zimmer-gembeck@griffith.edu.auAbstract: Parent–Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is an intensive parent support program for caregivers and their children who exhibit difficult-to-manage disruptive behaviors. After more than four decades of research supporting its efficacy for reducing children’s disruptive behaviors and improving parent–child relationships, PCIT has become one of the most popular and widely disseminated parenting support programs in the world. The evidence for the efficacy of PCIT can be found in many reviews of randomized clinical trials and other rigorous studies. To add to those reviews, our aim was to provide practical guidance on how PCIT can be part of an evidence-based program for families that depends on practitioner expertise, as well as attention to families’ diverse needs. To do this, we describe the evolution of PCIT as practiced in a university-community partnership that has continued for over 20 years, alongside a narrative description of selected and recent findings on PCIT and its use in specific client presentations across four themes. These themes include studies of 1) whether the standard manualized form of PCIT is efficacious across a selection of diverse family situations and child diagnoses, 2) the mechanisms of change that explain why some parents and some children might benefit more or less from PCIT, 3) whether treatment content modifications make PCIT more feasible to implement or acceptable to some families, at the same time as achieving the same or better outcomes, and 4) whether PCIT with structural modifications to the delivery, such as online or intensive delivery, yields similar outcomes as standard PCIT. Finally, we discuss how these directions in research have influenced research and practice, and end with a summary of how the growing attention on parent and child emotion regulation and parents’ responses to (and coaching of) their children’s emotions has become important to PCIT theory and our practice.Keywords: parent–child interaction therapy, parent support, child externalizing behavior, emotion regulation, autism spectrum disorder, evidence-based practicehttps://www.dovepress.com/evidence-based-treatment-in-practice-pcit-research-on-addressing-indiv-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-PRBMparent-child interaction therapyparent supportchild externalizing behavioremotion regulationautism spectrum disorder
spellingShingle Campbell SM
Hawes T
Swan K
Thomas R
Zimmer-Gembeck MJ
Evidence-Based Treatment in Practice: PCIT Research on Addressing Individual Differences and Diversity Through the Lens of 20 Years of Service
Psychology Research and Behavior Management
parent-child interaction therapy
parent support
child externalizing behavior
emotion regulation
autism spectrum disorder
title Evidence-Based Treatment in Practice: PCIT Research on Addressing Individual Differences and Diversity Through the Lens of 20 Years of Service
title_full Evidence-Based Treatment in Practice: PCIT Research on Addressing Individual Differences and Diversity Through the Lens of 20 Years of Service
title_fullStr Evidence-Based Treatment in Practice: PCIT Research on Addressing Individual Differences and Diversity Through the Lens of 20 Years of Service
title_full_unstemmed Evidence-Based Treatment in Practice: PCIT Research on Addressing Individual Differences and Diversity Through the Lens of 20 Years of Service
title_short Evidence-Based Treatment in Practice: PCIT Research on Addressing Individual Differences and Diversity Through the Lens of 20 Years of Service
title_sort evidence based treatment in practice pcit research on addressing individual differences and diversity through the lens of 20 years of service
topic parent-child interaction therapy
parent support
child externalizing behavior
emotion regulation
autism spectrum disorder
url https://www.dovepress.com/evidence-based-treatment-in-practice-pcit-research-on-addressing-indiv-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-PRBM
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