Effectiveness of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy(PCIT) for Children with Problem Behavior: Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is an evidence-based short-term treatment program designed for preschool children (2 to 7 years old) and parents with behavior or emotional problems, and is an effective intervention method to improve parent-child relationships and reduce children’s problem behavior. The purpose of this study is to estimate the effect of PCIT studied in Korea and to prepare an integrated basis. From 1991 to February 2022, papers studied in Korea were selected as exploration and target studies. A total of 17 studies were selected, and 11 studies (212 children, 12 father, 212 mother, 436 total) were finally included in the meta-analysis study, excluding 3 studies that presented the ranking sum. As a result of this study, the effect of PCIT improved children's problem behavior (1.32), reduced parenting stress (1.06) and mother's depression (0.99), and increased parenting efficacy (1.06) and spouse's parenting cooperation (0.86), which showed a significant effect (d>.8). This study is the first to conduct a meta-analysis on the effects of PCIT based on domestic literature and is expected to be widely used as a child counseling and parent education program.