Evaluation of the Invest in Play Program - a New Parent Intervention for Children With Problem Behavior

Evaluation of the Invest in Play Program - a New Parent Intervention for Children With Problem Behavior

The goal of this clinical trial is to test if the invest in Play (iiP) parent program can reduce problem behaviors in children and improve parenting practices in families with children who show challenging behaviors. The main questions it aims to answer is:

• Does the iiP program reduce children's problem behaviors?

Researchers will compare families in the iiP program to families in a control group to see if the program leads to better outcomes for children and parents.

Participants will be randomly assigned to either the iiP program group or the control group and complete surveys before and after the program to see if iiP is reducing children's problem behaviors.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Parents of children between 6-12 years of age referred to out-patient clinics for treatment of behavioural problems.
• Children scoring above a pre-defined mean cut off score (over the 90 percentile) on the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI; Eyberg & Ross, 1978) based on Norwegian norms (Reedtz et al., 2008), as reported by parents.

Exclusion Criteria:

- Severe developmental delay (in children or parents), autism spectrum disorder, inability to understand Norwegian, or other reasons why the parent(s) are not expected to benefit from group therapy.