Parent Management Training as a Treatment for Children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder Referred to a Mental Health Clinic

Abstract

Parent Management Training (PMT) has been shown to be an empirically supported intervention in ameliorating antisocial behaviour problems. Less evidence is available to demonstrate the effectiveness of PMT in routine public-health-oriented community-based settings where the presence of comorbid disorders complicates the picture. The current study was undertaken to investigate the effectiveness of PMT as a treatment for primary school-age children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) and comorbid disorders offered by clinical staff as part of clinical practice. An Australian sample of 94 parents of children diagnosed with ODD by structured interview was provided with eight sessions of PMT. Measures used to assess changes in child behaviour symptoms were the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory, the Parent Stress Index Child Domain, and the Child Behavior Checklist. Clinically relevant and statistically significant outcome results were found at posttreatment and at 5 months follow-up. There was a reduction in child symptomatology but no evidence of any effect of comorbidity on outcome. These findings are important for the clinical field as they show that PMT is a robust intervention suitable for routine clinical practice even when comorbid disorders are present in addition to ODD.