This research study investigated the effectiveness of a filial therapy training model as a method to train fifth grade students in child-centered play therapy skills and procedures. Filial therapy is an intervention that focuses on strengthening and enhancing adult-child relationships. The fifth grade students were trained to be a therapeutic change agent for kindergarten children identified as having adjustment difficulties, by utilizing basic child-centered play therapy skills in weekly play sessions with the kindergarten children. Specifically, this research determined the effectiveness of filial therapy in increasing the fifth grade students': 1) empathic responses with kindergarten children; 2) communication of acceptance with kindergarten children; 3) allowance of self-direction with kindergarten children, and 4) involvement in play activities of kindergarten children. The experimental group of fifth grade students (N=12) received thirty-five minutes of training twice a week for 5 weeks and then once a week for the duration of the 10 weeks of play sessions. The control group (N=11) received no training during the 15 weeks of the project. Fifth grade student participants were videotaped playing with a kindergarten child identified as having adjustment difficulties in 20-minute play sessions before and after the training to measure empathic behavior in adult-child interactions. Analysis of Covariance on adjusted post test means revealed that fifth grade children in the experimental group demonstrated statistically significant increases in empathic responses, acceptance, and behavioral willingness to follow the kindergarten children's lead, and involvement. A measure of communication of acceptance of kindergarten children's feelings and behaviors although not statistically significant indicated a positive trend. This study supports the use of filial therapy as an effective training model for increasing fifth grade students' empathic behavior with kindergarten children experiencing adjustment difficulties. Filial therapy offers significant possibilities for training fifth grade students in a developmentally appropriate model for working with kindergarten children, in order to prevent future problems. The observed power of the therapeutic relationship between the fifth grade students in the experimental group and the kindergarten children suggest the continued implementation of this innovative project.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of filial therapy in: (a) increasing Chinese parents' empathic behavior with their children; (b) increasing Chinese parents' attitude of acceptance toward their children; and (c) reducing Chinese parents' stress related to parenting. The experimental group, consisting of 18 Chinese parents, received 10 weekly 2-hour filial therapy training sessions and conducted a weekly 3 0-minute play session with one of their children. The control group, consisting of 16 Chinese parents, received no treatment during the ten weeks. All the parents were videotaped playing with their child before and after the training as a means of measuring change in empathic behavior. The two written self-report instruments completed for pretesting and posttesting purposes were the Porter Parental Acceptance Scale and the Parenting Stress Index. Analyses of Covariance revealed that the Chinese parents in the experimental group had significant changes in all 12 hypotheses, including (a) a significant increase in their level of empathic interactions with their children; (b) a significant increase in their attitude of acceptance toward their children; and (c) a significant reduction in their level of stress related to parenting. This study supports filial therapy as an effective intervention for Chinese parents and their children. Filial therapy equips Chinese parents with healthy parenting skills and knowledge and indirectly empowers Chinese children who experience an increase in parental empathy and acceptance. Thus, filial therapy offers significant possibilities for promoting the parent-child relationship and well-being of Chinese families.

This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of filial therapy as a method of intervention for non-offending parents and their children who have experienced sexual abuse. Filial therapy is a didactic/dynamic approach used by play therapists to train parents to be therapeutic agents with their children. Parents are taught basic child-centered play therapy skills and the utilization of these skills in weekly play sessions with their children. Parents learn to create a special environment which enhances and strengthens the parent-child relationship, thus assisting in personal growth and change for both the parent and child. The purpose of this study was to determine if filial therapy is effective in: (a) increasing the acceptance of non-offending parents of their sexually abused children; (b) reducing the stress level of non-offending parents; (c) improving empathic behaviors of non-offending parents toward their sexually abused child; (d) decreasing the anxiety of sexually abused children; (e) enhancing the self-concept of sexually abused children; (f) decreasing behavior problems of sexually abused children as reported by their non-offending parents; and (g) enhancing the emotional adjustment of sexually abused children.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of Filial Therapy training in increasing teachers of deaf and hard of hearing preschool students': 1) empathic responsiveness with their students; 2) communication of acceptance to their students; 3) allowance of self-direction by their students. A second purpose was to determine the effectiveness of Filial Therapy training in reducing experimental group students': 1) overall behavior problems; 2) internalizing behaviors; and 3) externalizing behavior problems. Filial Therapy is a didactic/dynamic modality used by play therapists to train parents and teachers to be therapeutic agents with their children and students. Teachers are taught primary child-centered play therapy skills for use with their own students in weekly play sessions with their students. Teachers learn to create a special environment that enhances and strengthens the teacher-student emotional bond by means of which both teacher and child are assisted in personal growth and change. The experimental group (N=24) consisted of 12 teachers, who participated in 11 weekly Filial Therapy training sessions (22 total instructional hours) during the fall semester at the preschool of a center for communications disorders, and 12 students chosen by the teachers as their student of focus. Teachers and students met once a week during the training for 30 minute teacher student play sessions in a room specified for this purpose. The non-treatment comparison group received no training during the 11 weeks. Teacher participants completed two written instruments: the Child Behavior Checklist/Caregiver-Teacher Report Form and the Meadow-Kendall Social-Emotional Assessment Inventory for Deaf and Hearing Impaired Students. Teachers who received Filial Therapy training were videotaped during student teacher play sessions. The videotaped sessions were used for pretest and posttest evaluation for the Measurement of Empathy in Adult-Child Interaction. Analysis of covariance revealed the children in the experimental group significantly decreased overall behavior problems. Teachers in the experimental group increased communication of empathy with their students of focus, significantly increased their attitude of acceptance with their students, and significantly increased in their ability to allow the students appropriate self-direction. This study supports Filial Therapy as an effective method of training teachers of deaf and hard of hearing preschool children to be therapeutic agents of change with their students.

This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of filial therapy training in: (a) increasing immigrant Korean parents' empathic behavior with their children; (b) increasing immigrant Korean parents' acceptance level toward their children; and (c) reducing immigrant Korean parents' stress related to parenting.The experimental group, consisting of 17 immigrant Korean parents in the United States, received 10 weekly 2-hour filial therapy training sessions and participated in weekly 30-minute play sessions with one of their children. The control group, consisting of 15 immigrant Korean parents in the United States, received no treatment during the ten weeks. All the parents were videotaped playing with their child before and after the training as a means of measuring change in empathic behavior. The two written self-report instruments completed for pretesting and posttesting purposes were the Porter Parental Acceptance Scale and the Parenting Stress Index. Analyses of covariance revealed that the immigrant Korean parents in the experimental group had significant changes in 10 of 12 hypotheses, including (a) a significant increase in their level of empathic interactions with their children; (b) a significant increase in their attitude of acceptance toward their children; and (c) a significant reduction in their level of stress related to parenting. This study supports the use of filial therapy for promoting the parent-child relationship in immigrant Korean families in the United States. Filial therapy helps immigrant Korean parents to be therapeutic agents for their children. It helps them regain their own power as parents and restore positive relationships with their children.

The purpose of this study was to conduct a survey to identify the beliefs and practices of conservative Protestant parents, which assisted in clarifying the assertions in the current literature regarding conservative Protestant parenting. Additionally, this researcher sought to determine the applicability of child parent relationship therapy (CPRT), a filial therapy model based upon the principles of child centered play therapy, for conservative Protestant parents by ascertaining the need for cultural modifications. Beliefs and practices of conservative Protestants were measured using the Protestant Parenting Inventory (PPI), an original instrument developed through a series of focus groups and pilot testings. The population comprised 148 mothers and fathers from 4 Southern Baptist churches in and around the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. Exploratory factor analysis was applied to the data in order to increase internal consistency estimates and percent of explained variance. Criterion coding of demographic data allowed a multiple regression analysis to determine which demographic variables were significant predictors of participant responses on the PPI. Descriptive statistics allowed the researcher to investigate the compatibility of conservative Protestants and CPRT. Results of this study both confirm and refute past findings regarding conservative Protestants. Results also revealed the need for some cultural modifications to CPRT in order to make it an acceptable parenting resource for conservative Protestant parents.

This study examined the effectiveness of training Head Start teachers and aides in child teacher relationship training (CTRT). CTRT is based on child parent relationship therapy (CPRT) (Landreth & Bratton, 2006), a filial therapy model based on the principles of child-centered play therapy, and was adapted for the classroom. In this quasi-experimental design, 12 teacher/aide pairs (n = 24) were assigned to the experimental (n = 12) or active control group (n = 12). Children who scored in the Borderline or Clinical range on at least one scale of the Child Behavior Checklist-Caregiver/Teacher Report Form (C-TRF) at pretest qualified for the study (n = 54). Nine hypotheses were analyzed using a two factor repeated measures multivariate analysis to determine if the CTRT group and the active control group performed differently across time according to pre-, mid-, and posttest results of the C-TRF. Additionally, effect sizes were calculated to determine practical significance. Five hypotheses were retained at the .05 level of significance. Post hoc analysis was conducted to analyze the effects of the two phases of treatment. Results indicated that children in the experimental group made statistically significant improvements in externalizing problems (p = .003). Children of focus made statistically significant improvements in externalizing (p = .003) and total behavior (p = .01) problems. Results are particularly significant for the non-children of focus, who only received the in-classroom intervention. The non-children of focus made statistically significant improvements in externalizing behavior problems (p = .04) and practical significance was large. Results indicate that a school based intervention such as CTRT is a viable treatment option for many children with externalizing behavior problems.

This study examined the effectiveness of training low income Black American parents in child parent relationship therapy (CPRT). In response to the cultural values and challenges faced by low income Black American parents, the CPRT manual was adapted slightly for use with parents for this study. In this quasi-experimental design, 14 parents were assigned to the experimental group and 13 parents were assigned to the no treatment control group. Six hypotheses were analyzed. Different analyses were conducted based on the hypotheses. A two-factor repeated measures analysis of variance and analysis of covariance were conducted to determine if the CPRT treatment and the no treatment control group performed differently across time according to pretest and posttest results of the Child Behavior Checklist - Parent Version (CBCL) and the Parenting Stress Index (PSI). Additionally, partial η2 was calculated to determine practical significance. Five hypotheses were retained at the .025 level of significance. Findings indicated that parents who participated in the CPRT training reported a statistically significant decrease in parent-child relationship stress. Specifically, parents assigned to the experimental group demonstrated a statistically significant decrease in Child Domain (p < .001), Parent Domain (p < .001), and Total Stress (p < .001) of the PSI when compared to parents assigned to the no treatment control group. Similarly, results indicated that parents assigned to the experimental group reported statistically significant improvements in Total Problems (p < .01) and Externalizing Problems (p = .001) of the CBCL, when compared to parents assigned to the no treatment control group. No statistical significant results were found on Internalizing Problems.

When a child has been sexually abused, the non-offending parent and child may benefit from an intervention aimed at enhancing the parent child relationship. This mixed-methods study examined the process of child parent relationship therapy (CPRT) with non-offending parents of children who had been sexually abused. One purpose of the present study was to examine change in parent-child relationship, child behavior, and parent empathy of non-offending parents whose children have been sexually abused after participation in CPRT. A secondary purpose of this study was to explore subjective experiences of non-offending parents who participate in CPRT. Participants (N = 8) completed 11 weeks of CPRT in either Spanish speaking (n = 4) or English speaking (n = 4) groups. All participants completed pretest and posttest instruments including Child Behavior Checklist, Parenting Stress Index, and Measurement of Empathy in Adult-Child Interaction. Pretest and posttest means were reported but because of small sample size, only descriptive statistics are reported. Possible trends in pretest/posttest mean scores of the quantitative instruments are discussed. All participants also completed a post semi-structured interview to account for the experience of participants qualitatively. Analysis of the qualitative data revealed enhanced parent-child relationships, improved communication, greater acceptance, positive parental internal changes, positive behavioral changes in child, and positive changes in discipline.

This study examined the relationship of group cohesion among heterogeneous and homogeneous groups on individual treatment outcome of child-parent relationship therapy (CPRT). CPRT is a filial therapy model that targets the parent-child relationship as a means for preventing or improving child and/or family problems. This study included 30 parents or caregivers from 9 groups which met for 10 sessions. Participants qualified for this study if their groups ended with at least 3 group members and 2 leaders, all pretest and posttest data on their child between the ages of 2-11 was completed, and if they attended at least 6 of the 10 sessions. Correlation coefficients, t-tests, and effect sizes were calculated. Results demonstrated no statistically significant differences between pretests and posttests on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) for all 30 participants; however, differences in measured effect (η2) between children identified with borderline and clinical behavior problems and children with normal behavior problems suggest that CPRT is more effective among children who demonstrate significant behavior problems. Perceived and observed group cohesion measurements demonstrated no significant difference at the individual outcome level. This finding suggests that group cohesion may not be related to individual outcome. Although there was no significant relationship between group cohesion and individual outcome for this study, results of the group measurements regarding engagement and group cohesiveness, coupled with previous studies on CPRT effectiveness, suggest that CPRT should be utilized in homogeneous groups.