Parent-child interaction training: the influence of adult affect on child behavior and attitude

Conduct disorder, generally defined as noncompliance, is the disorder for which most children are referred to mental health professionals. An effective therapeutic method for treating conduct disorder children is Parent-Child Interaction Training (PCIT). PCIT's goal is to teach parents skills that enhance the relationship between them and their child. Researchers have begun examining the variables that contribute to the efficacy of this approach. It has been found that maternal depression is one variable that significantly affects the outcome of PCIT. Depressed mothers are less satisfied than nondepressed mothers with the effects of treatment on their child’s behavior and demonstrate less improvement in the necessary behavioral skills after completing PCIT. Research also suggests that children are sensitive to and responsive to the emotional states of their parents. Despite the growing evidence that affect influences treatment outcome, few researchers have studied the relationship of these variables to child behavior. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the influence of adult affect on child behavior and attitude. The study was based upon an analogue model with a between-group post-test design. Adult nonverbal behavior was manipulated to create a positive affect condition and a flat affect condition. Children were matched for age and gender and sequentially assigned to one of the two conditions. It was hypothesized that children in the positive affect condition would interact more affectionately with an adult and would rate the adult more positively than the children in the flat affect condition. Results of Analyses of Variance did not support hypothesis one: adult affect did not influence child behavior. T-test analyses did support hypothesis two: children rated the adult more positively in the positive affect than in the flat affect condition. These findings are discussed in terms of previous PCIT literature and implications for future research.