Child-Parent Psychotherapy for Preschooler Witnesses of Domestic Violence Program

NCT ID: NCT00187772

Last Updated: 2013-09-19

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: PHASE3
• Total Enrollment: 60 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 1996-12-31
• Study Completion Date: 2004-09-30

Brief Summary

This study will examine the efficacy of Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) for the treatment of preschoolers exposed to marital violence.

Detailed Description

This study examines the efficacy of Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) for the treatment of preschoolers exposed to marital violence. Multi-ethnic preschool-mother dyads from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds were randomly assigned to CPP or to a case management plus community referral for individual treatment comparison group. It was hypothesized the children who received CPP treatment would show significantly greater improvement in general symptomatology and in traumatic stress symptoms than those in the comparison group.

There is growing recognition that, contrary to the long-standing assumption that young children are impervious to environmental stresses, preschoolers exposed to violence show increased rates of disturbances in self-regulation and in emotional, social and cognitive functioning (Osofsky, 2004; Pynoos et al., 1999; van der Kolk, 2003). The present study examines the efficacy of a relationship-based treatment approach involving the child and the mother. Dyads were randomly assigned to either the Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) treatment group or to a comparison group that consisted of monthly case management by an experienced Ph.D.-level clinician plus referrals for individual treatment in the community for mothers and child. We hypothesized that Child-Parent Psychotherapy would be more effective in alleviating children's traumatic stress symptoms and behavior problems because it focuses on improving the quality of the child-mother relationship and engages the mother as the child's ally in coping with the trauma. Treatment was offered for 50 weeks.

Conditions

Domestic Violence Exposure

Keywords

domestic violence; preschoolers; trauma; intervention

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Interventions

Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP)

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• child 3-5 years old
• child exposed to marital violence as confirmed by mother's report on the Conflict Tactics Scale 2 (Straus et al., 1996)
• perpetrator was not living in the home.

Exclusion Criteria

• mother's documented abuse of the target child
• current maternal substance abuse
• homelessness
• maternal mental retardation
• maternal psychosis
• child mental retardation or autistic-spectrum disorder

• Minimum Eligible Age: 3 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 6 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of California, San Francisco

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Alicia F. Lieberman, Ph.D.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of California, San Francisco

Locations

Child Trauma Research Project

San Francisco, California, United States

Countries

United States

References

Lieberman AF, Van Horn P, Ippen CG. Toward evidence-based treatment: child-parent psychotherapy with preschoolers exposed to marital violence. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2005 Dec;44(12):1241-8. doi: 10.1097/01.chi.0000181047.59702.58.

Reference Type: RESULT

PMID: 16292115 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

R21MH059661

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

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IRB #HR 793-12912-06

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: secondary_id

R21MH059661

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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