Oregon Social Learning Center (OSLC) Parent-Training Program
OVERVIEW
This parent-training program with professional staff is designed to help children who have problems with aggression and their parents. In this small-scale study, 19 cases were randomly assigned to either parent training or a wait-list control group. Families received as many sessions as deemed necessary. From pre-test to post-test were improvements in behavior between the experimental and control group.
DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM
Target population: Children (3-12 Years)
In this program, counselors teach parents techniques such as time-out to manage their children, but parent-training does not include marital counseling or how to deal with crises external to the family.
The experimental group is treated by the Oregon Social Learning Center master's-level counselors and student-therapist staff members who have been employed for at least one year. These professional staff members are trained intensively and participate in weekly clinical staffings. In the OSLC program, families are seen individually for weekly treatment sessions and therapists call parents bi-weekly. The average treatment time for this group is 17 hours (ranging from four to 48 hours) over an average 11.75 sessions (ranging from one to 32 sessions). Together, staff review videotaped sessions weekly.
The cost of the program is $27,755 for 7 months per student.
EVALUATION(S) OF PROGRAM
Patterson, G. R., P. Chamberlain, et al. (1982). A Comparative Evaluation of a Parent-Training Program. Behavior Therapy, 13, 638-650.
Evaluated Population: 19 children ages 3-12 in the Eugene, Oregon area
Approach: Pediatricians, school or mental health personnel, or parents referred children to the Oregon Social Learning Center if they met the following criteria: the child was three to 12 years old; parents agreed to home observations; neither parents nor child had previously been diagnosed as psychotic, severely retarded, or autistic; the family resided within a 25-minute drive from the Center; and the primary problem was social aggression.
The authors defined social aggression by behaviors such as temper tantrums or hitting, or the parent had described the child as severely out of control.
Forty-six families were referred, and seventeen of the subjects were not included in the sample because they had a low rate of observed social aggression. The remaining nineteen subjects were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (N=10 children) or a control group (N=9 children).
The control group was placed on a waiting list or could accept a referral to outside help. All but one family accepted the referral. The control group mostly was treated by local staff by behavior modification, an Adlerian approach, a structural family systems approach, or relaxation and physical exercise.
According to the American Psychological Association, the Adlerian approach recognizes that the individual is in a social environment and acts on his or her own decisions within that environment, "It emphasizes the individual's strivings for success, connectedness with others, and contributions to society as being hallmarks of mental health" (American Psychological Association, 2009).
The authors observed family interactions, used a parent report of child behavior, and a counselor-rated scale to measure negative behaviors.
Results: Observational data on child deviant behavior indicate a 63 percent decline from baseline for the treatment group, a statistically significant difference from the control group despite the small sample. At the post-test, 70 percent of the treated children had scores defined to be in the normal range, compared with 33 percent of the control group children. Parents reported that their children overall significantly improved, but there was no significant difference in change between the experimental and control group.
SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION
http://www.oslc.org/index.html
References
American Psychological Association. (2009). Adlerian Therapy: APA Videos. Retrieved May 19, 2009, from http://www.apa.org/videos/4310721.html
Patterson, G. R., P. Chamberlain, et al. (1982). A Comparative Evaluation of a Parent-Training Program. Behavior Therapy, 13, 638-650.
Program categorized in this guide according to the following:
Evaluated participant ages: Early Childhood (0-5), Middle Childhood (6-11), Adolescence (12-14).
Program components: Counseling/Therapy (Inc. Medical), Clinic/Provider-Based, Home Visiting, Parent or Family Component.
Measured outcomes: Social and Emotional Health, Behavioral Problems.
KEYWORDS: Early Childhood (0-5), Middle Childhood (6-11), Adolescence (12-17), Social/Emotional Health, Children (3-11), Aggression, Externalizing Problems, Conduct Problems, Behavioral Problems, Clinic-Based.
Program information last updated 5/19/09