Does parental attributional retraining and anger management enhance the effects of the triple P-positive parenting program with parents at risk of child maltreatment?

Abstract

Ninety-eight parents experiencing significant difficulties in managing their own anger in their interactions with their preschool-aged children were randomly assigned either to an enhanced group-administered behavioral family intervention program based on the Triple P-Positive Parenting Program that incorporated attributional retraining and anger management (EBFI) or a standard behavioral family intervention program (SBFI) that provided training in parenting skills alone. At post-intervention, both conditions were associated with lower levels of observed and parent-reported disruptive child behavior, lower levels of parent-reported dysfunctional parenting, greater parental self-efficacy, less parental distress, relationship conflict and similarly high levels of consumer satisfaction. EBFI showed a significantly greater short-term improvement on measures of negative parental attributions for children's misbehavior, potential for child abuse and unrealistic parental expectations than SBFI. At 6-month follow-up both conditions showed similarly positive outcomes on all measures of child abuse potential, parent practices, parental adjustment, and child behavior and adjustment; however, EBFI continued to show greater change in negative parental attributions. Implications for tailoring early-intervention programs to the needs of parents at risk of child maltreatment are discussed.