A pilot study of a new intervention for hard to treat children with conduct problems
Childhood conduct problems
Phase 1 intervention: Parent-Training (Duration 12-14 sessions) This social learning theory-based parent training package is well established and has been described in numerous publications (e.g. Webster-Stratton et al 1998, Scott et al 2001). It has an explicit structure described in a manual. The approach has proven effectiveness in UK community settings (Scott et al 2001). Phase 2 interventions (Duration 16 weeks) Control Group - clinical treatment as usual Children randomised to the control group will receive further clinical treatment which is likely to vary naturally across child mental health teams, and will include further help with parenting skills, support for parents, family therapy and occasionally individual therapy for the child. Reflective Interpersonal Therapy for Children and Parents (RICAP) RICAP has been devised by Hermione Roff, senior research therapist. RICAP is a fourteen session structured treatment for children and their parents, usually delivered over 16 weeks. It comprises one set-up session, 12 weekly child sessions and one review session at the end. The parent receives 6 fortnightly sessions alongside the child sessions. The child is seen weekly, and the core activity is the creation and review of a notebook of childs drawings and a record of conversations between the child and the therapist. Conversation, based on the drawings and the childs commentary on them, focuses on the explanation of behaviours in terms of the childs emotions and beliefs about his/herself, and others in the family and the wider social world. There is a planned sequence of topics dealing with interpersonal understanding and behaviour. Each week the parent attends the beginning 10 minutes of the child's session to share with the childs therapist one good and one difficult interpersonal event that has occurred during the previous week. The child then commences 40 minutes alone with their therapist focussing on the co-creation of the book of drawings and refl
1. Phase 1: Children aged 5-10 years of age, rated in the clinical range on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) conduct problems subscale or the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) externalising subscale by either their parent or teacher 2. Phase 2: All children who remain in the clinical range of either of these scales according to one or more informant at the end of phase 1 intervention (parent training) Browne (1995) recommends that in a pilot study 30 are needed in each group to provide reasonably narrow confidence intervals for the standard deviations required for a power calculation. The 80% upper one-sided confidence limit will be used when determining power for a full scale RCT.
Phase 1: Non-English speaking families Phase 2: Moderate learning disability which indicated RICAP would not be an appropriate intervention