Term of Award

Summer 2023

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.)

Document Type and Release Option

Dissertation (open access)

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Department

Department of Psychology

Committee Chair

Thresa Yancey

Committee Member 1

Jeff Klibert

Committee Member 2

Ryan Couillou

Abstract

Externalizing behaviors in children are a common problem experienced by many parents. If untreated, externalizing behaviors are associated with more serious consequences (Hann, 2012). Parents of children with behavior issues also report higher levels of stress (Dumas et al., 2009). Parenting stress is related to lower life satisfaction for parents and increased negative outcomes for children living in the home. Parent training programs, incorporating attachment building and discipline strategies, combat childhood externalizing behaviors in clinical settings. While reducing childhood externalizing behaviors is the main aim of parent training, there are other benefits to gaining parenting skills such as increased familial problem-solving and coping skills. Group delivered interventions reach more individuals and provide services more easily than individually delivered interventions for underserved and rural communities. Seventeen parents (including biological, adoptive, foster, and other caregivers) completed a 6-week parent training program provided in a group setting via telehealth. Results indicate the program resulted in reductions in externalizing behaviors, but no significant changes occurred for parental stress or family problem solving skills, possibly due to underpowered analyses. Future studies should continue to examine the utility of this and similar programs to better understand the usefulness of their implementation with larger sample sizes.

OCLC Number

1365391104

Research Data and Supplementary Material

No

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