Long-term effects of parent-child interaction therapy: A mixed-methods follow-up study of three and nine years later

Parent management training (PMT) programs are commonly used for treatment of child disruptive behaviour at a young age. Intervening early and involving parents in the interventions is used to limit adverse outcomes later in life. Yet, there is a dearth of literature that regard the long-term effects of such interventions. Therefore, the current study aimed to uncover, the long-term effects are of the PMT-program Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) from the perspective of parents. A mixed-method approach was used in order to find out how parents reflected back on the treatment and to find out how parents and their children were doing. Nineteen semi-structured interviews were conducted at three and nine years follow-up, and two questionnaires regarding child disruptive behaviour and parenting stress were filled out pre-, and post-treatment and at six-months, three years and nine years follow-up. Results showed that generally, parents were satisfied with PCIT. They were positive about the decrease in their child’s disruptive behaviour and their own parenting stress, the lasting effects of learning parenting skills, and bettered inter-family relationships. Parents also expressed dissatisfaction with the treatment. They were unsure about the suitability of PCIT for all children, disagreement with the time-out procedure was mentioned and parents lacked long-term contentment with learnt parenting skills. Quantitatively, an overall decrease in clinical reports of child disruptive behaviour and parenting stress was seen, although there was a peak of clinical reports at three years follow up. The current study is a steppingstone for uncovering parents’ thoughts on PCIT retrospectively. It contributes to the knowledge about the long-term effects of intervening early for disruptive behaviour in the Netherlands. The overall consensus on PCIT is positive, although most parents state to need further guidance a few years later. Future research is warranted to further uncover long-term effects of PCIT from the perspective of parents with a larger population.