Mindful Parenting and Parent Training Program Study

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of a Combined Mindful Parenting and Parent Training Program on Children With Disruptive Behavioral Problems and Their Families

The Mindful Parenting and Parent Training Study will be investigating the combination of Bögels and Restifo's (2014) Mindful Parenting Program and Chorpita and Weisz's (2009) Modular Approach to Therapy for Children with Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, or Conduct Problems (MATCH) Program, specifically the BPT module. The Mindful Parenting Program is an adaptation for parents of the Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, and the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program; the program will consist of 7-weekly 2.5-hour parent group sessions. Following the completion of the Mindful Parenting group sessions, half of the participants will be randomly selected to receive individually-implemented MATCH BPT sessions, which will consist of 8-12 weekly (depending on how long it takes for individual parents and their assigned trainer to get through the material), 1.5-hour sessions. The other half of families will have the opportunity to also receive the MATCH BPT program following the completion of data collection.

Both evaluation and treatment services will be offered at no cost to study participants. Parents, children, and teachers will also be offered monetary incentive to thank them for their time and effort completing study related assessments throughout the course of the study to determine if the combination of the Mindful Parenting Program with BPT improves functioning in children with disruptive behavioral problems, as well as the parent-child relationship and the parent's acquisition and enactment of the skills they learn in BPT.

Inclusion Criteria:

1. the child participant must be between the ages of 6 and 11 years old at baseline/time of pretreatment data collection;
2. he/she must have an elevated score (i.e. a t-score of 60 or greater) on one or more of the Externalizing Problems clinical scales (i.e. Hyperactivity, Aggression, and Conduct Problems) or on the Attention Problems clinical scale of the Behavior Assessment System for Children 3rd Edition - Parent Report (BASC-3; Reynolds & Kamphaus,

2015), as assessed during the intake assessment for the study; 3) both the parent and child participants must be fluent English speakers, and; 4) the parent participant(s) must be available to attend weekly treatment sessions and assessments for up to 26 weeks at New York University - Kimball Hall.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. There is evidence of significant developmental delay or psychosis that impacts the child's ability to fully engage in the intervention;
2. The youth or parent presents with emergency psychiatric needs that require services beyond that which can be managed within this intervention format (e.g. hospitalization, specialized placement outside the home);
3. if the parent and/or child are not fluent English speakers;
4. if the family is currently enrolled in any type of behavioral parent or parent management training program; and
5. if the child has an estimated Full Scale IQ below 80, based on completing two subtests of the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, Second Edition during the intake assessment for the study.