Education Commons^™

Home-Based Parent Child Therapy For Young Traumatized Children Living In Poverty: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Joanna R. Love, Robert Fox

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

A randomized control trial was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a home-based, parent-and-child therapy program specifically developed for toddlers and preschoolers living in poverty with trauma symptoms. Sixty-four children 5-years of age and younger were referred to a community-based clinic for behavior problems and emotional difficulties. All children had experienced one or more potentially traumatic events and met the DSM-5’s criteria for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Children Six Years of Age and Younger. All families received government assistance indicating that their income met the federal definition for poverty. Participants were randomly assigned to either immediate treatment or wait …

Development Of A Barriers Scale To Predict Early Treatment Success For Young Children In Poverty With Behavior Problems, Brittany Lynn Gresl, Robert A. Fox, Lauryn A. Besasie

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

Research has demonstrated that participation in parent and child therapy (PCT) programs significantly reduces problematic behaviors while increasing positive behaviors in the child. However, PCT programs report rates of early termination as high as 60% among families in poverty. Research to reduce these early termination rates has historically focused on barriers to treatment including logistical conflicts, socioeconomic status, child age, and symptom severity. Despite attempts to address these variables and reduce early termination rates, progress has been slow in advancing the research in this area. In addition, few measures have been designed to accurately assess how barriers to treatment impact …

Screening For Significant Behavior Problems In Diverse Young Children Living In Poverty, Sara E. Harris, Robert A. Fox, Casey A. Holtz

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

The development and use of first line screening instruments is an essential first step in assessing behavior disorders in very young children. The Early Childhood Behavior Screen (ECBS) is a parent-report measure for behavior disorders and is normed on young children (1–5 years old) living in poverty. The current study presents psychometric support for the discriminative validity of the ECBS’s 10-item Challenging Behavior Scale (CBS) as a first-line screener for externalizing behavior problems for preschool aged-children in poverty. The study’s sample included 673 participants (M age years = 2.81; 63.2 % male; 65.8 % African American) that all met …

Early Pathways Therapy For Young Children In Poverty: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Sara E. Harris, Robert A. Fox, Joanna R. Love

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

Early Pathways is a home-based, parent and child therapy program for the treatment of disruptive behaviors among young children living in poverty. In this study, 199 clinically referred children were randomly assigned to an immediate treatment (IT) or wait-list control (WL) conditions. Results indicated that parents in the IT condition reported significant improvements in their child’s disruptive and prosocial behaviors and increased nurturing and decreased use of corporal and verbal punishment by their parents compared to the WL families. Gains were maintained for children in both the IT and WL conditions at 3-month follow-up.

Incidence Of Behavior Problems In Toddlers And Preschool Children From Families Living In Poverty, Casey A. Holtz, Robert A. Fox, John R. Meurer

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

Few studies have examined the incidence of behavior problems in toddlers and preschool children from families living in poverty. The available research suggests behavior problems occur at higher rates in children living in poverty and may have long-term negative outcomes if not identified and properly treated. This study included an ethnically representative sample of 357 children, five years of age and younger, from a diverse, low-income, urban area. All families’ incomes met the federal threshold for living in poverty. Behavior problems were assessed by parent report through a questionnaire specifically designed for low-income families. Boys and younger children were reported …

Home-Based Parent-Child Therapy In Low-Income African American, Caucasian, And Latino Families: A Comparative Examination Of Treatment Outcomes, Brittany L. Gresl, Robert A. Fox, Alicia Fleischmann

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

This study examined parent and child treatment outcomes for a home-based Parent-Child Therapy (PCT) program for 66 children from families living in poverty. African American, Caucasian, and Latino families were examined to determine if an evidence-based program would produce similar results across different ethnic groups. The results showed that caregivers across the three ethnic groups reported improved child challenging behavior, increased positive parent-child interactions, improved parental expectations, higher levels of nurturing, and less reliance on verbal and corporal punishment as a form of discipline. Practical implications for these results are discussed.

Evaluation Of A University-Community Partnership To Provide Home-Based, Mental Health Services For Children From Families Living In Poverty, Robert A. Fox, Ryan Mattek, Brittany L. Gresl

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

A university-community partnership is described that resulted in the development of community-based mental health services for young children from families living in poverty. The purpose of this pilot project was to implement an evidence-based treatment program in the homes of an at-risk population of children with significant emotional and behavior problems that were further complicated by developmental delays. Outcomes for 237 children who participated in the clinic’s treatment program over a 2 year period are presented. Comparisons are included between treatment completers and non-completers and the issues of subject attrition, potential subject selection bias, and the generalizability of the results …

Treatment Outcomes For Toddlers With Behaviour Problems From Families In Poverty, Robert A. Fox, Casey A. Holtz

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

Background. Relatively few treatment studies address mental health issues in very young children. This study examined the effectiveness of a treatment program for toddlers whose behavior problems were further complicated by living in poverty.

Method. An empirically-validated treatment program was adapted for use in the homes of 102 toddlers for an average of 12 weekly sessions.

Results. Significant improvements were found for the children’s behavior problems and their compliance to parent requests.

Discussion. The inherent challenges in working with at-risk families and the challenges in delivering mental health services for very young children living in poverty are discussed.

The Grammar Of Catholic Schooling And Radically "Catholic" Schools, Martin Scanlan

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

A "grammar of Catholic schooling" inhibits many elementary and secondary Catholic schools from reflecting on how they practice Catholic Social Teaching (CST). The values of human dignity, the common good, and a preferential option for the marginalized are central to CST. Schools can live these values by serving children who live in poverty, are racial, ethnic, and linguistic minorities, or have disabilities. This article demonstrates how a grammar of Catholic schooling has allowed Catholic schools to fall into recruitment and retention patterns antithetical to CST. Drawing upon a multicase, qualitative study of three urban Catholic elementary schools serving marginalized students, …

A Community-Based Parenting Program With Low-Income Mothers Of Young Children, Bonnie Nicholson, Viktor Brenner, Robert A. Fox

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

Research has established a significant relationship between certain parental characteristics. such as income or parenting practices, and the development of child behavior problems. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a parenting program for low-income parents of children one to five years old which was offered through community-based family resource centers. Seventy-one mothers completed the program and showed significant decreases in their use of verbal and corporal punishment and significant increases in nurturing behaviors: their children’s behavior also improved significantly. Forty-five percent of parents also met Jacobson and Truax’s (1991) criteria for clinically significant change. Implications for practitioners working With this …