Does behavioural parent training reduce internalising symptoms (or not) among children with externalising problems? Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Christy Bloss, Sophie Brown, Vilas Sawrikar
Author Information
  1. Christy Bloss: Department of Clinical Psychology, School of Health in Social Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
  2. Sophie Brown: Department of Clinical Psychology, School of Health in Social Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
  3. Vilas Sawrikar: Department of Clinical Psychology, School of Health in Social Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. vilas.sawrikar@ed.ac.uk. ORCID

Abstract

Behaviour parent training (BPT) is known to effectively reduce child externalising problems. However, evidence for BPT to have secondary benefits for reducing internalising symptoms remains unclear. To address this, electronic databases (PsycINFO, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and SCOPUS) were systematically searched for studies examining internalising outcomes from BPT among children aged 2-12 years with clinically elevated externalizing problems. Outcomes for internalising problems following BPT were analysed by meta-analysis. Of 9105 studies identified, 24 studies met the eligibility criteria. Results from meta-analysis demonstrated a significant small treatment effect size (g���=���- 0.41) for reducing internalising symptoms immediately after treatment. Studies showed moderate heterogeneity (I���=���44%). Moderation analyses indicated that the overall treatment effect was robust against variations in treatment and study design characteristics. However, a review of individual study methods indicate that these results are limited by significant heterogeneity and limitations in clinical assessment. Overall, the results suggest that BPT programmes for reducing externalising problems have the potential to improve internalising outcomes, but that there is limited information to determine the reliability of these effects, highlighting the need for further investigation.

Keywords

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MeSH Term

Child
Child, Preschool
Humans
Behavior Therapy
Child Behavior Disorders
Parents

Word Cloud

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