Project Bridge
is a three year field initiated
research project funded by the US Department of Education, Office of Special
Education Programs. The primary purpose of this study is to compare the
effectiveness of the Responsive Teaching early intervention curriculum (Mahoney
& MacDonald, 2005) with Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)
as a
procedure for helping parents address the social emotional and behavioral
problems of young children.
A pre-post-experimental research design is being used to compare the
effects of these two treatment programs.
A group of 80 children with behavior problems or socio-emotional concerns
who are under four years of age and their parents are being randomly assigned to
receive treatment with either the Responsive Teaching curriculum or
PCIT. Treatment consists of weekly
parent-child intervention sessions for a period of 6 to 12 months conducted by
trained interventionists from Case Western Reserve University. Children's social emotional
and developmental functioning will be assessed at entry, and after 12 and 24
months. At the same time, parents will be asked to complete a series of
instruments assessing their psychosocial functioning, including measures of
stress, depression, satisfaction with support and family functioning. Beginning at baseline and at six-month
intervals thereafter, parents' interactions with their children will be assessed
both with the Maternal Behavior Rating Scale and the Child Behavior Rating
Scale.
Analyses will be conducted to examine differences between the two
treatment groups related to children's social-emotional and developmental
functioning. They will also assess the effects that intervention has on parents'
interactions with their children and the quality of children's social
interactions. Analyses will also examine how intervention outcomes are related to
characteristics of parents and families.(FLYER)
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