Behavioural parent training with mothers of preschool children

Fifteen subjects, mothers of preschool age children with behaviour problems were assigned to one of two conditions: (1) general skills, in which behavioural principles and step's to setting up a behaviour change project were taught, and (2) specific focus, in which attention was focused on setting up behavioural intervention programmes for individual children but where more general principles were not explicitly discussed. Both conditions involved attendance at five weekly, two hour sessions, and a one month at home follow-up. Several hypotheses were made regarding the likelihood of greater maintenance and generalization of training for the general skills group. In addition, a preliminary investigation of the assertion and temperament characteristics of the parents in the study was carried out. While both groups did show significant improvement over time, none of the hypotheses made regarding between group differences were supported. Several possible explanations for the lack of significant differences between conditions were discussed as were the results of the temperament and assertion surveys. Finally suggestions for future investigations of parent training procedures and parent characteristics were made.Arts, Faculty ofPsychology, Department ofGraduat