Sustained Effects of Incredible Years as a Preventive Intervention in Preschool Children with Conduct Problems

The present study evaluated preventive effects of the Incredible Years program for parents of preschool children who were at risk for a chronic pattern of conduct problems, in the Netherlands. In a matched control design, 72 parents of children with conduct problems received the Incredible Years program. These families (intervention group) were compared with 72 families who received care as usual (control group). Two years after termination of the intervention, it appeared that observed and selfrated parenting skills were significantly improved in the intervention group. Likewise, in this group, observed child conduct problems showed sustained intervention effects. The decrease in observed critical parenting mediated the decrease in observed child conduct problems over time. In addition, it appeared that parental influence increased over time

Cross-Sectional Study into the Costs and Impact on Family Functioning of 4-Year-Old Children with Aggressive Behavior

Early-onset aggressive behavior is known for its negative developmental consequences, and the associated high costs for families, the health care system and wider society. Although the origins of aggressive behavior are to be found in early childhood, the costs incurred by aggressive behavior of young children have not been studied extensively. The present study aimed to investigate whether preschool children with a high level of aggressive behavior already differ in the generated amount of costs and impact on family functioning from children with lower levels of aggressive behavior. A population-based sample of 317 preschool children was divided into four groups with different levels of aggression (moderate, borderline, clinical). Parents filled out questionnaires to assess service use (lifetime and past 3 months) and impact on family functioning. Over the past 3 months as well as over the first 4 years of life, children with a clinical level of aggression were more costly than children with a low level of aggression (mean total costs over the past 3 months: low = €167,05 versus clinical € = 1034,83 and mean lifetime costs: low € = 817,37 versus clinical € = 1433,04), due to higher costs of services used by the child. In addition, families of children with a borderline or clinical level of aggressive behavior reported more impairment in their daily functioning than families of children with lower levels of aggression. The findings demonstrate that a high level of aggressive behavior results in high costs and impaired family functioning in the preschool years already

Executive functions in preschool children with aggressive behavior: impairments in inhibitory control

The question whether executive function (EF) deficits in children are associated with conduct problems remains controversial. Although the origins of aggressive behavior are to be found in early childhood, findings from EF studies in preschool children with aggressive behavior are inconsistent. The current study aimed to investigate whether preschool children with aggressive behavior show impairments in EF. From a population-based sample, 82 preschool children who were showing aggressive behavior as indicated by scores at or above the 93rd percentile on the Aggressive Behavior Scale of the CBCL 1 1/2-5 were selected. These children with aggressive behavior were matched on IQ to a group of typically developing control children (N=99). Six neuropsychological tasks were administered to assess set shifting, inhibition, working memory and verbal fluency. A factor analysis was conducted which yielded one clear factor: inhibition. Aggressive preschool children showed poorer performance on this inhibition factor than control children and boys performed worse on this factor than girls. This association between aggressive behavior and inhibition deficits was maintained after controlling for attention problems. In addition, gender differences in all EFs measured were found with boys exhibiting more impairment in EF than girls. These findings demonstrate that preschool children with aggressive behavior show impairments in inhibition, irrespective of attention problems

Bringing parenting interventions back to the future: How randomized microtrials may benefit parenting intervention efficacy

A novel approach is needed to promote the efficacy of parenting interventions designed to improve children's mental health. The proposed approach bridges developmental and intervention science to test which intervention elements contribute to parenting intervention program efficacy. The approach encourages the field to move "back to the future" using stringent, focused experimental techniques to test discrete parenting techniques (e.g., praise, time-out) on their merit. We argue that these randomized microtrials are needed to (a) distinguish between the less and more efficacious elements of parenting interventions, (b) illuminate for whom and under what conditions elements are efficacious, and (c) explore the potential for empirically supported tailoring of interventions to meet families' specific needs

Effectiveness of the Incredible Years Parenting Program for Families with Socioeconomically Disadvantaged and Ethnic Minority Backgrounds

Families with socioeconomically disadvantaged and ethnic minority backgrounds are often hard to reach for the prevention and treatment of disruptive child behavior problems. We examined whether the Incredible Years parenting intervention can successfully reach and benefit families with socioeconomic disadvantaged and ethnic minority backgrounds in the Netherlands. One hundred fifty-four families from a wide range of socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds were recruited in an outpatient clinic for child and adolescent psychiatry and in elementary schools serving deprived neighborhoods. Families were randomly assigned to the BASIC Incredible Years parenting intervention or a waiting list control condition. Children were 3–8 years old (M = 5.59, SD = 1.35; 62% boys, 66% ethnic minorities) and 65% of the children met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.) criteria for oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, and/or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Incredible Years reduced parent-reported disruptive child behavior and teacher-reported hyperactive and inattentive child behavior and increased parent-reported use of praise and incentives and reduced harsh and inconsistent discipline. Incredible Years did not affect parent-reported hyperactive and inattentive child behavior; teacher-reported child conduct problems; and parent-reported use of appropriate discipline techniques, clear expectations, physical punishment, and parenting stress. Of importance, the effectiveness of Incredible Years did not differ across families with different socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. Effects were maintained at 3-month follow-up. This study shows that socioeconomically disadvantaged and ethnic minority families in disadvantaged neighborhoods can be engaged in and benefit from parenting interventions to reduce disruptive child behavior

Associations between family-related factors, breakfast consumption and BMI among 10- to 12-year-old European children : the cross-sectional ENERGY-study

OBJECTIVE: To investigate associations of family-related factors with children's breakfast consumption and BMI-z-score and to examine whether children's breakfast consumption mediates associations between family-related factors and children's BMI-z-score. SUBJECTS: Ten- to twelve-year-old children (n = 6374; mean age = 11.6 ± 0.7 years, 53.2% girls, mean BMI-z-score = 0.4 ± 1.2) and one of their parents (n = 6374; mean age = 41.4 ± 5.3 years, 82.7% female, mean BMI = 24.5 ± 4.2 kg/m(2)) were recruited from schools in eight European countries (Belgium, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, and Switzerland). The children self-reported their breakfast frequency per week. The body weight and height of the children were objectively measured. The parents responded to items on family factors related to breakfast (automaticity, availability, encouragement, paying attention, permissiveness, negotiating, communicating health beliefs, parental self-efficacy to address children's nagging, praising, and family breakfast frequency). Mediation analyses were performed using multi-level regression analyses (child-school-country). RESULTS: Three of the eleven family-related variables were significantly associated with children's BMI-z-score. The family breakfast frequency was negatively associated with the BMI-z-score; permissiveness concerning skipping breakfast and negotiating about breakfast were positively associated with the BMI-z-score. Children's breakfast consumption was found to be a mediator of the two associations. All family-related variables except for negotiating, praising and communicating health beliefs, were significantly associated with children's breakfast consumption. CONCLUSIONS: Future breakfast promotion and obesity prevention interventions should focus on family-related factors including the physical home environment and parenting practices. Nevertheless, more longitudinal research and intervention studies to support these findings between family-related factors and both children's breakfast consumption and BMI-z-score are needed

Does Socioeconomic Status Matter? A Meta-Analysis on Parent Training Effectiveness for Disruptive Child Behavior

<p>Disadvantaged family socioeconomic status (SES) is often assumed to diminish parent training program effectiveness. In examining effects of SES, influences of initial problem severity have been largely ignored. In the present meta-analysis, we examined (a) whether there is a differential influence of SES on parent training effectiveness at immediate posttreatment and at 1-year follow-upcontrolling for levels of initial problem severityand (b) whether SES interacts with initial problem severity in its effect on program effectiveness. Seventy-five studies on parent training program effectiveness to reduce disruptive child behavior were included. Separate analyses were conducted for immediate posttreatment and approximately 1-year follow-up assessments. Immediately posttreatment, disadvantaged samples benefited less from parent training, but only when they had low levels of initial problem severity. At follow-up, disadvantaged samples benefited less from parent training regardless of initial problem severity. Initial problem severity was a strong predictor of effect sizes both immediately posttreatment and at follow-up. Parent training programs are equally effective for disadvantaged and nondisadvantaged families immediately posttreatment, at least when initial problems are severe. Maintenance of treatment gain, however, seems harder for disadvantaged families, suggesting that more sustained family support may be needed.</p>