The use of skills training procedures in the treatment of a child-abusive parent.
Recent behavioral formulations suggest that child abuse can often be conceptualized in terms of skill deficits of the parent. In the present case study, training was used to improve an abusive parent's anger-assertion, child management, and personal problem-solving skills; deficits in all three areas were functionally related to prior episodes of violence. Treatment across these skill areas was introduced in multiple baseline fashion. The effectiveness of treatment was demonstrated by assessments of assertion, child management, and problem-solving knowledge following each training session; parent monitoring data on the frequency of child-related and anger problems at home throughout the intervention; performance on skill generalization measures; and objectively-rated parent-child interactions during pre- and post-training home observation probes.
D000328:Adult; D000786:Anger; D001242:Assertiveness; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D002668:Child Rearing; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000193:education*; D011340:Problem Solving; D014754:Violence