Research has indicated that negative parenting practices are associated with disruptive behavior in offspring. Extant research also has indicated that disruptive behavior in offspring affects parenting practices. Thus, the current study examined the relationship between parenting and disruptive behavior. It was hypothesized that symptoms of ODD have a more negative influence on parenting than symptoms of CD and ADHD, and parental mental health mediates the relationship between disruptive behavior and parenting. Results of the current study indicated that, as hypothesized, for maternal and paternal parenting and discipline, ADHD had no association with parenting or discipline practices. Symptoms of ODD and CD had an equivalent association with maternal positive parenting only. Complete mediation of the associations of ODD and CD by maternal mental health occurred when examining maternal positive parenting only. Partial mediation of these relationships occurred for maternal and paternal positive discipline and paternal positive parenting.

Previous research indicates that significant environmental factors, parenting styles in particular, have an influence on a child's likelihood to develop disruptive behavior. Higher reported levels of affective empathy are associated with lower rates of disruptive behavior. Further, authoritative parenting style and parental involvement has been associated with lower disruptive behavior rates. Fathers who are involved equally as much or more than the mother are described as egalitarian. The current study examined the effects of parenting, particularly egalitarian parenting, on empathy and disruptive behavior. Results indicated affective and cognitive empathy correlated negatively with disruptive behavior, egalitarian characteristics in fathers were correlated positively with cognitive and affective empathy and negatively with disruptive behavior, and empathy did not mediate or moderate the relationship between fathers' egalitarian parenting and disruptive behavior. Lastly, results indicated emerging adults from families with a biological mother and stepfather had higher empathy ratings compared to other household structures.

Children with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) can have heterogeneous presentations due to varying combinations of the eight criterion A symptoms. Researchers have identified a subtype of ODD for children with primarily angry/irritable mood symptoms and who are at risk for developing mood and anxiety disorders. Despite the prevalence of anger and mood issues in children with ODD, established treatments for disruptive behavior disorders typically focus primarily on teaching caregivers more effective parenting strategies to address oppositional and defiant behaviors, rather than directly targeting children's difficulties with emotions. To address the dearth of emotion-focused treatments for ODD, a novel emotion regulation intervention was developed based on a framework offered by Southam-Gerow (2013). The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the initial feasibility of this intervention and to explore its efficacy for reducing ODD and associated emotion regulation problems in middle childhood. Following a non-concurrent multiple baseline design, children ages 8-12 were assessed with semi-structured diagnostic interviews to determine study eligibility, and subsequently enrolled in a 13-week intervention with their caregivers. Treatment feasibility was supported by participant satisfaction ratings as well as treatment fidelity results. Treatment protocol adherence in terms of delivery by the therapist was high, but caregiver symptom reporting was less consistent. Nevertheless, multiple metrics support the efficacy of the intervention in reducing symptoms of ODD as well as some efficacy in improving child emotion regulation abilities. Overall, results support further research into emotion regulation-focused intervention for ODD. / PHD

Parenting practices have great influence over a child’s behavior. Specifically, parental involvement may protect children from developing problem behaviors during their development. A strong parent-child relationship may act as a preventative measure towards development of disruptive behavior into emerging adulthood (i.e., 18 to 25 years). The current study aimed to examine the effects of parenting practices and parental involvement on emerging adult outcomes. Results indicated that parental involvement and parenting styles were negatively correlated with disruptive behavior, parenting styles and parental involvement were positively correlated with one another, and females tended to perceive higher levels of involvement from mothers. In addition, it was found that parenting styles and disruptive behavior were accounted for through parental involvement. Child disclosure also was associated with lower levels of disruptive behavior, whereas parental solicitation was found to be associated with higher levels disruptive behavior.

This exploratory study examined the effectiveness of child teacher relationship training (CTRT) with at-risk preschool children exhibiting disruptive behavior. The participants included a total of 23 Head Start teachers and their aides, and children identified by their teachers as exhibiting clinical or borderline levels of externalizing behavior problems. Teacher participants included 22 females and 1 male; demographics were reported as 56% Hispanic ethnicity, 17% Black American, and 22% European American. Child participants included 15 males and 5 females; demographics were reported as 60% Hispanic, 30% Black American, and 10% European American. A 2 by 3 (Group x Repeated Measures) split plot ANOVA was used to analyze the data. According to teacher reports using the Teacher Report Form (C-TRF) and blinded raters’ reports using the Direct Observation Form (DOF) to assess disruptive behaviors, children whose teachers received the CTRT intervention demonstrated statistically significant decreases (p < .05) in externalizing behaviors on the C-TRF and total problems on the DOF from pre- to mid- to post-test, compared to children whose teachers participated in the active control group. The CTRT intervention demonstrated large treatment effects on both measures (C-TRF: ?p2 =.173; DOF: ?p2=.164) when compared to CD, revealing the practical significance of the findings on reducing disruptive behaviors. According to independent raters on the DOF, 90% of children receiving the CTRT intervention moved from clinical levels of behavioral concern to more normative levels of functioning following treatment, establishing the clinical significance of CTRT as an early mental health intervention for preschool children in Head start exhibiting disruptive behavior.

This study investigated the impact of child teacher relationship training (CTRT) on teachers’ ability to provide emotional support in the classroom, teachers’ use of relationship-building skills, and teachers’ level of stress related to the student-child relationship. Teachers and aides from one Head Start school were randomly assigned to the experimental group CTRT (n = 11) or an active control Conscious Discipline group (CD; n = 12). Overall, 21 females, 11 (CTRT) and 11 (CD), and one male (CD) participated in the study. Participating teachers and aides identified themselves as the following: 13 Hispanic/Latino, 5 Black American, and 5 European American. Teachers and aides identified children with clinical levels of disruptive behavior problems for the purpose of selecting children of focus for the study. The children’s mean age was 3.63 for CTRT group and 3.36 for CD group. Overall, 9 females, 2 (CTRT) and 7 (CD), and 10 males, 6 (CTRT) and 4 (CD) participated in the study. Teachers reported children’s ethnicity: 13 Hispanic/Latino, 5 African American, and 1 other. A two-factor (Treatment x Group) repeated measures split plot ANOVA was utilized to analyze the data with an alpha level of .05. According to objective raters blinded to the study using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) and the Child Teacher Relationship Skills Checklist (CTRT-SC) and teacher reports using Index of Teaching Stress (ITS), results revealed a statistically significant interaction effect for the experimental teachers’ use of child-teacher relationship skills (CTRT-SC: p = .036), a non-statistically significant interaction effect for the experimental teachers’ ability to provide emotional support (CLASS: p = .50), and a non-statistically significant interaction effect on teacher stress (ITS: p = .997). Partial eta squared effect sizes were calculated to determine the practical significance of the findings. Compared to the active control, CTRT demonstrated large treatment effects over time on the CTRT-SC (?p2 = .19) and the CLASS (?p2 = .16). Study findings provide support for CTRT as an effective intervention for increasing Head Start teachers’ ability to provide emotional and relational support to at-risk students.

Externalizing behavior problems during early childhood are fairly common, with approximately 10% to 15% of young children exhibiting at least mild to moderate disruptive behaviors. Of great significance, disruptive behaviors persist beyond early childhood for a substantial number of children and are related to impaired functioning 111 for children and families. Parent discipline and parent stress are two variables that have been examined in relation to children's disruptive behaviors. While a significant body of research has documented the association between broad parental discipline strategies and behavior problems during early childhood, little research attention has been devoted to specific discipline techniques that may be related to disruptive behaviors. This study surveyed 30 parents of children with behavior problems and 57 parents of children without behavior problems about the discipline techniques they use with their preschool children. The relationships between the specific techniques parents use with their young children, parents' perceived stress level, and parent-reported child behavior problems were examined. Telling the child "no," corrective feedback, lecturing, and scolding were the discipline techniques parents reported using most often. The discipline techniques of corrective feedback and threats as well as parent stress emerged as significant predictors of disruptive behaviors. Conclusions and clinical implications of these findings are provided.

The purpose of this study was to explore parental views on the efficacy of parent-child interaction therapy. Research indicates that early intervention and prevention is essential when treating children with disruptive behaviors. Intervening at an early age prevents the disruptive behaviors from progressing into more complex disorders that can occur in the teenage and adult years. This study utilized a quantitative method to better understand if parents identified as parent-child interaction therapy as effective. This study consisted of 29 parent-child dyads that had completed parent-child interaction therapy and reported their satisfaction with parent-child interaction therapy through the use of parent-stress index scores. Results indicated that parent-child interaction therapy was viewed as successful by parents. However, success of parent-child interaction therapy is only applicable to certain domains that were chosen in this study; limiting the generalizability of overall success of parent-child interaction therapy. Parent-child interaction therapy has shown success in strengthening the parent-child dyad and decreasing disruptive behaviors such as distractibility and hyperactivity. It is recommended that parent-child interaction therapy continue to be utilized by professionals and focus on all the domains rather than selected domains.

Disruptive behavior disorders including Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Conduct Disorder (CD), and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), are listed among the most common reasons youth are referred for mental health services (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention [CDC], 2016b; Kazdin, Mazurick, Siegel, & 1994). Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is one intervention that has been found to reduce clinically significant levels of disruptive behavior. The purpose of the current study was to determine the form of change, typical change trajectory, and individual variation in change for disruptive behavior across the two phases of PCIT; the Child-Directed Interaction (CDI) and Parent-Directed Interaction (PDI) phases. In addition, the current study determined which child and caregiver characteristics were associated with variation in change across CDI and PDI. Participants included a total of 75 children in PCIT between the ages of 2 to 8 years. Children and their caregiver(s) attended PCIT weekly at a university-based, outpatient clinic. The Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI) was completed at every treatment session to indicate the intensity of disruptive behavior. Child and caregiver characteristics including the caregiver and the child’s gender, the caregiver’s income and marital status, the caregiver’s relationship with the child, the number of caregivers in PCIT, the child’s primary diagnosis, and the child’s medication status, were obtained through medical record abstraction. Results indicated the form of change in disruptive behavior, as measured on the ECBI Intensity scale, was linear in CDI and curvilinear in PDI. The average trajectory indicated disruptive behavior decreased throughout PCIT treatment. The decrease in ECBI Intensity scores during CDI was statistically significant, as well as the variance in children’s ECBI Intensity scores at the beginning of PDI. Caregiver marital status significantly predicted the ECBI Intensity score, which was higher for the divorced or separated group at the first session of PDI than other groups. Caregiver type also significantly predicted the ECBI Intensity score. When the caregiver was a grandparent, the ECBI Intensity score was lowest at the first session of PDI. However, the change in the ECBI Intensity slope for the biological parent group was steeper in comparison when transitioning from CDI to PDI, and less steep throughout PDI, than the grandparent group. Number of caregivers also was a significant predictor, with more caregivers present in PCIT indicating a greater decrease in the ECBI Intensity score. Significant child characteristic predictors were diagnosis code and medication status. For a diagnosis of Other (e.g., Adjustment Disorder, Selective Mutism), the ECBI Intensity score at the intercept was less than the ODD; ADHD; and Other Specified/Unspecified Disruptive, Impulse-Control, and CD groups; and higher than the Autism Spectrum Disorder/Social Pragmatic Communication Disorder group. A medication status of combined (greater than one psychopharmacological medication prescribed) indicated a higher ECBI Intensity score at the intercept, in comparison to the other groups. There was also a steeper change in slope throughout PDI when the diagnosis was ADHD in comparison to the ASD/SCD group. Last, when the medication status was single (one psychopharmacological medication prescribed), the change in slope during CDI for the ECBI Intensity score was steeper than the combined medication group. In summary, findings indicated disruptive behavior decreased during PCIT. However, clinicians and families may expect a slight increase in disruptive behavior at the beginning of PDI, or to see a slower rate of change in behavior, before the rate of change eventually speeds up and disruptive behavior decreases. Clinicians may see differences in the rate of change during PCIT based on caregiver and child characteristics and should use this information to guide discussions with families in the future. Future research should be conducted to determine if results may be replicated across different participant groups. Future studies may also follow-up on the maintenance of treatment gains after completing PCIT based on differences in rate of change for various caregiver and child characteristics examined in the current study.

A student response system is a technology that allows an entire classroom of students to respond to questions and receive immediate feedback from teachers during instruction. However, little research has examined the use of student response systems to support student behavior in elementary schools. This study focused on using an electronic student response system to improve class-wide behavior in two general elementary school classrooms. An ABAB and ABA reversal designs embedded within a multiple baseline design across classrooms was employed to evaluate the outcome of the intervention. Although limited, the results indicated that the classroom teachers implemented the electronic student response system with fidelity, and their implementation of the intervention resulted in reduced disruption and increased academic engagement. Social validity data indicated that the electronic response system intervention was acceptable to both teachers and students to some degree.