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TELEPHONE COUNSELING AND TRADITIONAL PARENT EDUCATION TRAINING IN MODIFYING CHILD CONDUCT BEHAVIORS

SPENCER RICHARD WARD, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Abstract

The effects of telephone counseling, traditional parent education training, and a waiting-list control condition on child conduct behavior were examined. Subjects were 45 volunteer parents with at least one child between the ages of three and ten years who engaged in conduct problem behaviors that the subject wished to modify. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of three conditions. Traditional parent education training consisted of six weekly 1/2 hour scripted individual counseling sessions conducted by impartial counselors. Telephone counseling consisted of six weekly 1/2 hour scripted telephone contacts with these same counselors (no face-to-face contact). Self-help reading materials covering the six units of a parent education program were assigned for both conditions. Controls were asked to wait for the duration of the experimental period and were then offered a parenting class. Subjects rated child conduct problems at screening, after the 6 weeks of treatment, and at a 1 month follow up. Measures assessing attributions of behavior change and satisfaction with counseling were administered at the close of the 6 week treatment schedule. Results indicated that: First, there was no significant difference between the telephone, traditional parent education training conditions, and the controls in the level of problem child conduct behavior. Second, there was no significant difference between the telephone and traditional parent education training conditions in the degree of maintenance of behavior change at follow-up. Third, there was a significant difference between the telephone and traditional parent education training conditions in the extent subjects attributed lack of success to the counselor and to themselves. Telephone counseling subjects blamed the counselor and themselves less for failure in treatment than did traditional parent education training condition subjects; there were no other significant differences in attribution between these groups. Finally, there was no significant difference between the telephone and traditional parent education training conditions in level of satisfaction with treatment.

Subject Area

Psychotherapy

Recommended Citation

WARD, SPENCER RICHARD, "TELEPHONE COUNSELING AND TRADITIONAL PARENT EDUCATION TRAINING IN MODIFYING CHILD CONDUCT BEHAVIORS" (1984). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8428219.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8428219

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