Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T15:20:22.649Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Toward a Technology of Prevention of Disruptive Behaviour Disorders: The Role of Behavioural Family Intervention

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2014

Matthew R. Sanders
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Queensland
Carol Markie-Dadds
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Queensland
Get access

Abstract

The prevention of severe psychopathology has long been held as a goal of psychological intervention with children. This paper examines the role of behavioural family intervention in the prevention of conduct problems in children. Components of a prevention model and their conceptual and empirical justification are outlined as well as some practical obstacles to the development of comprehensive, preventively oriented, mental health services for children and families. Possible directions for future research with high risk groups are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Anderson, J.C., Williams, S.M., McGee, R.O., & Silva, P.A. (1987). The prevalence of DSM-III disorders in pre-adolescent children: Prevalence in a large sample from the general population. Archives of General Psychiatry, 44, 6976.Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics (1981). Labour force status and other characteristics of families, Australia (Catalogue No. 6224.0). Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics (1991). Labour force status and other characteristics of families, Australia (Catalogue No. 6224.0). Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.Google Scholar
Berrueta-Clement, J.R., Schweinhart, L.J., Barnett, W.S., & Weikart, D.P. (1987). The effects of early educational intervention on crime and delinquency in adolescence and early adulthood. In Burchard, J.D. & Burchard, S.N. (Eds), Prevention of delinquent behaviour (pp. 220240). London: Sage.Google Scholar
Carlson, C.L., Lahey, B.B., & Neeper, R. (1984). Peer assessment of the social behavior of accepted, rejected and neglected children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 12, 189198.Google Scholar
Cohen, P., Kasen, S., Brook, J.S., & Struening, E.L. (1991). Treatment sources and diagnostic correlates in a cohort of adolescents. Journal of American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 30, 989993.Google Scholar
Dadds, M.R. (1987). Families and the origins of child behaviour problems. Family Process, 26, 341357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dadds, M.R. (1989). Child behavior therapy and family context: Research and clinical practice with maritally distressed families. Child and Family Behavior Therapy, 11, 2744.Google Scholar
Dadds, M.R., Schwartz, S., & Sanders, M.R. (1987). Marital discord and child behaviour problems: A description of family interactions during treatment. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 16, 192203.Google Scholar
Darlington, R.B., Royce, J.M., Snipper, A.S., Murray, H.W., & Lazar, I. (1980). Preschool programs and later school competence of children from low-income families. Science, 208, 202208.Google Scholar
Davidson, W.S. & Wolfred, T.R. (1977). Evaluation of a community-based behavior modification program for prevention of delinquency. Community Mental Health Journal, 13, 296306.Google Scholar
Dryfoos, J.G. (1990). Adolescents at risk: Prevalence and prevention. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, L. (1989). Public policy: Risk factor or remedy. In Prevention of Mental Disorders, Alcohol and Other Drug Use in Children and Adolescents (pp. 125155), (DHHS Publication No. ADM 89–1646). Washington, DC: Alcohol, Drug Use and Mental Health Administration.Google Scholar
Emery, R.E. (1982). Interparental conflict and the children of discord and divorce. Psychological Bulletin, 92, 310330.Google Scholar
Ensminger, M.E., Kellam, S.G., & Rubin, B.R. (1983). School and family origins of delinquency: Comparisons by sex. In Van Dusen, K. & Mednick, S. (Eds), Prospective studies of crime and delinquency (pp. 7397). Hingham, MA.: Kluwer-Nijhoff.Google Scholar
Farrington, D.P. (1979). Longitudinal research on crime and delinquency. In Morris, N. & Tonry, M. (Eds), Crime and justice: An annual review of research (Vol. 1, pp. 289348). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Farrington, D.P., & West, D.J. (1981). The Cambridge study in delinquent development. In Mednick, S.A. & Baert, A.E. (Eds), Prospective longitudinal research: An empirical basis for the primary prevention of psychosocial disorders (pp. 137145). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Fendrich, M., Warner, V., & Weissman, M.M. (1990). Family risk factors, parental depression and psychopathology in offspring. Developmental Psychology, 26, 4050.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferguson, D.M., Diamond, M.E., Horwood, L.J., & Shannon, F.T. (1984). The use of preschool health and education services. Social Science and Medicine, 19, 11731180.Google Scholar
Fincham, F.D., & Bradbury, T.N. (Eds) (1990). The psychology of marriage: Basic issues and applications. New York: Guildford Press.Google Scholar
Fo, W.S.O., & O'Donnell, C.R. (1975). The buddy system: Effect of community intervention on delinquent offenses. Behavior Therapy, 6, 522524.Google Scholar
Forehand, R., & McMahon, R.J. (1981). Helping the non-compliant child: A clinicians guide to parent training. New York: Guildford.Google Scholar
Galli, N., & Stone, D.B. (1975). Psychological status of student drug users. Journal of Drug Education, 5, 327333.Google Scholar
Glick, P.C., & Lin, S. (1986). Recent changes in divorce and remarriage. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 48, 737747.Google Scholar
Grych, J.H., & Fincham, F.D. (1990). Marital conflict and children's adjustment: A cognitive-contextual framework. Psychological Bulletin, 108, 267290.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hart, B.M., & Risley, T.R. (1975). Incidental teaching of language in the preschool. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 8, 575593.Google Scholar
Hawkins, J.D. & Lishner, D. (1987). Etiology and prevention of antisocial behavior in children and adolescents. In Crowell, D.H., Evans, I.M.; O'Donnell, C.R. (Eds), Childhood aggression and violence: Sources of influence, prevention and control (pp. 263282). New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Hawkins, J.D., VonCleve, E., & Catalano, R.F. (1991). Reducing early childhood aggression: Results of a primary prevention program, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 30, 208217.Google Scholar
Herbert, M. (1978). Conduct disorders of childhood and adolescence: A behavioural approach to assessment and treatment. Chichester, England: Wiley.Google Scholar
Honig, A.S., Lally, J.R., & Mathieson, P.H. (1982). Personal and social adjustment of school children after 5 years in the Family Development Program. Child Care Quarterly, 11, 136146.Google Scholar
Jessor, R., Chase, J.A., & Donovan, J.E. (1980). Psychological correlates of marijuana use and problem drinking in a national sample of adolescents. American Journal of Public Health, 70, 604613.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, D.L. & Breckenbridge, J.N. (1982). The Houston parent-child development center and the primary prevention of behavior problems in young children. American Journal of Community Psychology, 10, 305316.Google Scholar
Johnson, D.L., & Walker, T. (1987). Primary prevention of behavior problems in Mexican-American children. American Journal of Community Psychology, 15, 375385.Google Scholar
Kandel, D.B. (1982). Epidemiological and psychosocial perspectives on adolescent drug use. Journal of American Academic Clinical Psychiatry, 21, 328347.Google Scholar
Kazdin, A.E. (1984). Behavior modification in applied settings (3rd ed.). Homewood, IL: Dorsey Press.Google Scholar
Kazdin, A.E. (1987a). Treatment of antisocial behaviour in children: Current status and future directions. Psychological Bulletin, 102, 187203.Google Scholar
Kazdin, A.E. (1987b). Conduct disorders in childhood and adolescence. London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Kazdin, A.E. (1990). Premature termination from treatment among children referred for antisocial behaviour. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 3, 415525.Google Scholar
Kelly, D.H., & Balch, R.W. (1971). Social origins and school failure: A re-examination of Cohen's theory of working class delinquency. Pacific Sociological Review, 14, 413430.Google Scholar
Kolvin, I., Miller, F., Fleeting, M., & Kolvin, P.A. (1988). Social and parenting factors affecting criminal-offence rates: Findings from the Newcastle Thousand Family study (1947-1980). British Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 8090.Google Scholar
Lally, J.R., Mangione, P.L., & Honig, A.S. (1988). Parent education as early childhood intervention: Emerging directions in theory, research and practice. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar
Lang, A.R., Pelham, W.E., Johnston, C., & Gelernter, S. (1989). Levels of adult alcohol consumption induced by interactions with child confederates exhibiting normal versus externalising behaviors. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 98, 294299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lazar, I. & Darlington, R. (1982). Lasting effects of early education: A report from the consortium for longitudinal studies. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development (Serial No. 195), 47, 23.Google Scholar
Leitenberg, H. (1987). Primary prevention of delinquency. In Burchard, J.D. & Burchard, S.N. (Eds), Prevention of delinquent behaviour, (pp. 312330). London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Lochman, J.E. (1990). Modification of childhood aggression. In Hersen, M., Eisler, R.M., & Miller, P.M. (Eds.), Progress in Behavior Modification Vol. 25 (pp. 4785). New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Loeber, R. (1982). The stability of antisocial and delinquent child behaviour: A review. Child Development, 52, 915916.Google Scholar
Loeber, R., & Dishion, T. (1983). Early predictors of male delinquency: A review. Psychological Bulletin, 94, 6899.Google Scholar
Loeber, R., & Stouthamer-Loeber, M. (1986). Family factors as correlates and predictors of juvenile conduct problems and delinquency. In Tonry, M. & Morris, N. (Eds), Crime and justice: An annual review of research Vol. 7 (pp. 29149). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Lytton, H. (1990). Child and parent effects in boys' conduct disorder: A reinterpretation. Developmental Psychology, 26, 683697.Google Scholar
Markman, H.J., Floyd, F.J., Stanley, S.M., & Lewis, H.C. (1987). Prevention. In Jacobson, N.S. & Gurman, A.S. (Eds), Clinical handbook of marital therapy (pp. 173195). New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
McCord, J. (1990). Long-term perspectives on parental absence. In Robins, L.N. & Rutter, M. (Eds), Straight and devious pathways from childhood to adulthood (pp. 116134). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
McGuire, J. & Earls, F. (1991). Prevention of psychiatric disorders in early childhood, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 32, 129154.Google Scholar
Miller, G.E., & Prinz, R.J. (1990). Enhancement of social learning family interventions for childhood conduct disorder. Psychological Bulletin, 108, 291307.Google Scholar
Moffitt, T.E. (1990). Juvenile delinquency and attention deficit disorder: Developmental trajectories from age 3 to 15. Child Development, 61, 893910.Google Scholar
Offord, D.R. (1982). Family backgrounds of male and female delinquents. In Gunn, J. & Farrington, D.P. (Eds), Delinquency and the Criminal Justice System (pp. 129153). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Offord, D.R. (1989). Conduct disorder: Risk factors and prevention. In Prevention of Mental Disorders, Alcohol and Other Drug Use in Children and Adolescents (pp. 273307, DHHS Publication No. ADM 89-1646). Washington, DC: Alcohol, Drug Use and Mental Health Administration.Google Scholar
Offord, D.R., & Boyle, M.H. (1986). Problems in setting up and executing large-scale psychiatric epidemiological studies. Psychiatric Developments, 3, 257272.Google Scholar
Patterson, G.R. (1982). Coercive family process. Eugene, Ore.: Castalia Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Patterson, G.R. (1986). Performance models for antisocial boys. American Psychologist, 41, 432444.Google Scholar
Patterson, G.R., Capaldi, D., & Bank, L. (1991). An early starter model for predicting delinquency. In Pepler, D.J. & Rubin, K.H. (Eds), The development and treatment of childhood aggression (pp. 130168). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Patterson, G.R., DeBaryshe, B.D., & Ramsey, E. (1989). A developmental perspective on antisocial behaviour. American Psychologist, 44, 329335.Google Scholar
Patterson, G.R., Reid, J.B., Jones, R.R., & Conger, R.W. (1975). A social learning approach to family intervention, (Vol. 1). Eugene, OR: Castalia.Google Scholar
Paul, G.L. (1969). Behavior modification research. In Franks, C.M. (Ed.), Behavior therapy: Appraisal and status (pp. 2962). New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Potas, I., Vining, A., & Wilson, P. (1990). Young people and crime: Costs and prevention. Australia: Australian Institute of Criminology.Google Scholar
Quinton, D., Rutter, M., & Gulliver, L. (1990). Continuities in psychiatric disorders from childhood to adulthood in children of psychiatric patients. In Robins, L.N. & Rutter, M. (Eds), Straight and deviant pathways from childhood to adulthood (pp.259278). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Rickel, A.U., & Allen, L. (1987). Preventing maladjustment from infancy through adolescence. Newbery Park, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Robins, L.N. (1978). Sturdy childhood predictors of adult antisocial behavior: Replications from longitudinal studies. Psychological Medicine, 8, 611622,Google Scholar
Robins, L.N. (1981). Epidemiological approaches to natural history research: Antisocial disorders in children. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 20, 566580.Google Scholar
Robins, L.N. (1986). Changes in conduct disorder over time. In Farran, D.C. & McKinney, J.D. (Eds), Risk in intellectual and psychosocial development (pp. 227259). New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Robins, L.N. (1991). Conduct disorder. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 32, 193212.Google Scholar
Robins, L.N., & Price, R.K. (1991). Adult disorders predicted by childhood conduct problems: Results from NIMH epidemiologic catchment area project. Psychiatry, 54, 116132.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. (1989). Pathways from childhood to adulthood. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 30, 2351.Google Scholar
Rutter, M., Cox, A., Tupling, C., Berger, M., & Yule, W. (1975). Attainment and adjustment in two geographical areas: 1. The prevalence of psychiatric disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 126, 493509.Google Scholar
Rutter, M., & Giller, H. (1983). Juvenile delinquency: Trends and prospects. New York: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Rutter, M., Maughan, B., Moretimore, P., & Ouston, J. (1979). Fifteen thousand hours: Secondary schools and their effects on children. Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. & Quinton, D. (1984). Parental psychiatric disorder: Effects on children. Psychological Medicine, 14, 853880.Google Scholar
Rutter, M., Tizzard, J., & Whitmore, K. (1970). Education, health and behavior. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Sanders, M.R. (1992a). Every parent: A positive guide to childrens' behaviour. Sydney: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Sanders, M.R. (1992b). New directions in behavioural family intervention with children: From clinical-management to prevention. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 21, 2536.Google Scholar
Sanders, M.R., & Dadds, M.R. (1992). Behavioural family intervention. Needham Heigts, MA: Allyn & Bacon.Google Scholar
Sanders, M.R., Dadds, M.R., Johnston, B.C., & Cash, R. 1992). Childhood depression and child conduct disorder I: Behavioural, affective and cognitive aspects of family problem solving interactions. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 101, 495504.Google Scholar
Schonfeld, I.S., Shaffer, D., O'Connor, P., & Portnoy, S. (1988). Conduct disorder and cognitive functioning: Testing three causal hypotheses. Child Development, 26, 653660.Google Scholar
Sturge, C. (1982). Reading retardation and antisocial behaviour. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 23, 2131.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tuma, J.M. (1989). Mental health services for children: The state of the art. American Psychologist, 44, 188199.Google Scholar
Warr, P. (1982). Editorial: Psychological aspects of employment and unemployment. Psychological Medicine, 12, 711.Google Scholar
Washington, V. (1985). Head Start: How appropriate for minority families in the 1980s? American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 55, 577590.Google Scholar
Webster-Stratton, C. (1982). Long term effects of videotape modelling parent education program: Comparison of immediate and 1-year follow-up results. Behavior Therapy, 13, 702714.Google Scholar
Webster-Stratton, C., & Eyberg, S.M. (1982). Child temperament: Relationship with child behaviour problems and parent-child interactions. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 11, 123129.Google Scholar
Weiss, G., & Hechtman, L. (1986). Hyperactive children grown up. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Weissberg, R.P., Caplan, M., & Harwood, R.L. (1991). Promoting competent young people in competence-enhancing environments: A systems based perspective on primary prevention. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 830841.Google Scholar
West, D.J., & Farrington, D.P. (1973). Who becomes delinquent? London: Heinemann.Google Scholar
West, D.J., & Farrington, D.P. (1977). The delinquent way of life. London: Heinemann.Google Scholar
White, J.L., Moffitt, T.E., Earls, F., Robins, L., & Silva, P.A. (1990). How early can we tell?: Predictors of childhood conduct disorder and adolescent delinquency. Criminology, 28, 507533.Google Scholar
Widom, C.S. (1989). The cycle of violence. Science, 244, 160166.Google Scholar
Wodaski, J.S., Filipczak, J., McCombs, D., Koustenis, G., & Rusilko, S. (1979). Follow-up of behavioural intervention with troublesome adolescents. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 10, 181188.Google Scholar
Woodhead, M. (1988). When psychology informs public policy. American Psychologist, 43, 443454.Google Scholar