Program
Background
The mission of the Incredible Years
Training Series is to promote positive, effective,
and research- based parenting and teaching practices
and strategies which strengthen young children's social
competence and problem-solving strategies and reduce
aggression at home and at school. There are three
types of interlocking training curriculums, which
are targeted at parents, teachers and children (ages
two to eight years). Initially, in the 1980's, the
BASIC parent program was evaluated and found to be
very successful in promoting positive and lasting
improvements in parent-child interactions and in reducing
children's behavior problems at home for at least
two-thirds of children. However, a follow-up evaluation
three years later indicated that approximately one-third
of the children were still having considerable difficulties
at school and with peer groups. Improvements at home
did not necessarily generalize to school settings
or to peer interactions for some children. In particular,
stressful family situations (e. g., marital distress
and poverty) were related to poorer outcomes. As a
result of these findings, two new components were
developed: (1) the ADVANCE parent program focusing
on communication, anger management and problem-solving
skills and, (2) the child program (Dina Dinosaur Curriculum)
designed to train children in social skills, problem-solving
strategies and emotional language. Evaluation of these
components indicated that the programs enhanced effects
in terms of peer relationships, social problem-solving
and marital collaboration. However, it was still evident
that a portion of the children and their families
were having difficulties managing the school experience
and working successfully with teachers. In particular,
about 40 percent of the children were found to be
co-morbid for other problems such as Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder, as well as language and learning
delays. These problems created particular difficulties
for the children in the classroom, with teachers and
with peers. Moreover, parents of these children were
having difficulty knowing how to successfully collaborate
with teachers in planning for their academic and social
needs. Consequently, for the past six years, a teacher
training curriculum has been developed and evaluated
for use in teaching positive classroom management
skills and promoting social, emotional and academic
competencies in the classroom. In conjunction with
this program, the Supporting Youth Child's Education
(SCHOOL) program for parents was developed to help
parents learn how to foster academic competence at
home (e. g., reading skills and study habits) and
have successful conferences with teachers at school.
Recent evaluations of these programs indicated significant
effects in decreasing classroom aggression and increasing
academic competence.
These curriculums may be used in schools (e. g.,
Head Start, daycare, and kindergarten through grade
three) as early prevention programs for high-risk
children and their families and are designed to build
protective factors (e. g., anger management, empathy
skills, positive discipline and home-school collaboration)
and reduce risk factors (e. g., early signs of aggression
and peer rejection) that research has shown to be
related to later violence. Additionally, these curriculums
may be used in mental health centers as treatment
programs for children diagnosed with early-onset Oppositional
Defiant Disorder (ODD) or Conduct Disorder (CD) and
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The
long range goal of these prevention programs is to
enhance young children's social, emotional, and academic
development, as well as prevent and reduce conduct
problems in order to decrease violence, drug abuse,
and delinquency in later years.
Conduct Problems in Young
Children
The incidence of aggression in children is escalating—
and at younger ages. Studies indicate that anywhere
from 7 to 20 percent of pre-school and early school
age children meet the diagnostic criteria for Oppositional
Defiant Disorder (ODD) and Conduct Disorder (CD).
These rates are even higher for low-income families.
Research on the treatment and prevention of Conduct
Disorders has been identified as one of the nation's
highest priorities. This agenda is vitally important
because the widespread occurrence of delinquency and
escalating violence in adolescence result in a high
cost to society. "Early onset" ODD/ CD (in
the form of high rates of oppositional defiance, aggressive
and noncompliant behaviors) is a stable trait over
time for many preschool children and appears to be
the most important behavioral risk factor for antisocial
behavior for boys and girls in adolescence. Such behavior
has repeatedly been found to predict the development
of drug abuse in adolescence (Brook, Whiteman, Gordon,
& Cohen, 1986; Dishion, Patterson, Stoolmiller,
& Skinner, 1991), as well as other problems, including
juvenile delinquency, depression, violent behavior,
and school dropout (Kazdin, 1985).
Theories regarding the causes of child conduct problems
include child biological and developmental risk factors
(e. g., attention deficit disorders, learning disabilities,
and language delays); family factors (e. g., marital
conflict, depression, drug abuse, and criminal behavior);
ineffective parenting (e. g., harsh discipline and
low parental involvement in school activities); school
risk factors (e. g., teachers' use of poor classroom
management strategies, classroom level of aggression,
large class sizes and low teacher involvement with
parents); and peer and community risk factors (e.
g., poverty and gangs).
Since Conduct Disorder becomes increasingly resistant
to change over time, intervention that begins in the
early school years is clearly a strategic way to prevent
or reduce aggressive behavior problems before they
"ripple" to result in well-established negative
reputations, academic failure, and escalating violence
in adolescence. Recent projections suggest that approximately
70 percent of the children who need services for conduct
problems— in particular, young children—
do not receive them. And very few of those who do
receive intervention ever receive an intervention
which has been "empirically validated."
Highlights of the Incredible Years Parent, Teacher
and Child Training Series
- Comprehensive (includes integrated training for
parents, teachers and children)
- Proactive, collaborative approach built on the
"strength model"
- Flexible in delivery using sequenced modules (26
topics in total)
- Culturally sensitive (available in Spanish, British
dialect, and Norwegian, as well as multi-ethnic
videotape actors and puppets)
- Appropriate for prevention programs for high-risk
children, as well as for treatment of children with
conduct problems
- User friendly— uses a combination of books,
videotapes, extensive facilitator manuals, and home
and school activities
- Developmentally appropriate for young children—includes
puppets, games and activities
- Provides extensive program support for training
facilitators, school personnel, and organizations,
including group facilitator training
- Provides certification for facilitators to assure
quality implementation
- Evidence-based and replicated by independent researchers
Theoretical Rationale/Conceptual
Framework
The theoretical rationale for the three curriculums
for parents, teachers, and children is described below.
Theoretical Rationale/ Conceptual Framework for the
Incredible Years Parent Training Series
Parenting interactions are clearly the most well researched
and most important proximal cause of the development
of conduct problems in young children. Parenting practices
associated with the development of conduct problems
include permissive, inconsistent, irritable, and harsh
discipline and low monitoring. Dishion and Loeber
(1985) and others have found that parental monitoring
and discipline are low for adolescent substance abusers;
moreover, these parental constructs at age ten predicted
later antisocial behavior and drug abuse. The most
influential developmental model for describing the
family dynamics that underlie early antisocial behavior
is Patterson's social learning theory regarding the
"coercive process" (Patterson et al., 1992),
a pattern whereby children learn to escape or avoid
parental criticism by escalating their negative behaviors.
This, in turn, leads to increasingly aversive parent
interactions and escalating dysregulation on the part
of the child. These negative parent responses directly
model and reinforce the child's deviant behaviors.
In addition to social learning theory, attachment
theory (Bowlby, 1980) and new methods of measuring
attachment beyond the toddlerhood period have emphasized
the importance of the affective nature of the parent-child
relationship. Considerable evidence indicates that
a warm, positive bond between parent and child leads
to more positive communication and positive parenting
strategies and a more socially competent child, whereas
high levels of parental negative affect and hostility
is disruptive to children's ability to regulate their
emotional responses and manage conflict appropriately.
For example, research has shown that the relationship
between harsh discipline and externalizing problems
occurrs only among children in homes in which a warm
child-parent relationship is lacking (Deater-Deckard,
Dodge, Bates, & Pettit, 1996). Likewise, in a
recent review of research on risk and resilience,
Doll and Lyon (1998) conclude that a warm relationship
with at least one caregiver is a strong protective
factor against the negative influences of family dysfunction.
This finding is supported by results of a large national
study of adolescent development that showed that youth
who report positive relationships and bonding with
their families and schools engage in less risky and
fewer antisocial behaviors (Resnick et al., 1997).
Other family factors, such as depression, marital
conflict, and high negative life stress, have been
shown to disrupt parenting skills and contribute to
parental high negative affect, inconsistent parenting,
low monitoring, emotional unavailability and insecure
attachment status. Family and parenting risk factor
research suggests the need to train parents in effective
child management skills and assist them in coping
with other family stressors.
Theoretical Rationale/ Conceptual Framework for the
Incredible Years Teacher Training Series
Once children with behavior problems enter school,
negative academic and social experiences make key
contributions to the further development of conduct
problems. Aggressive, disruptive children quickly
become socially excluded, leading to fewer opportunities
to interact socially and learn appropriate friendship
skills. Over time, peers become mistrustful and respond
to aggressive children in ways that increase the likelihood
of reactive aggression. Evidence suggests that peer
rejection eventually leads to these children's association
with deviant peers. Once children have formed deviant
peer groups, the risk for drug abuse and antisocial
behavior is even higher.
Furthermore, Rutter and colleagues (1976) find that
teacher behaviors and school characteristics such
as low emphasis of teachers on academic work, low
rates of praise, little emphasis on individual responsibility,
and high student-teacher ratio are related to classroom
aggressive behaviors, delinquency, and poor academic
performance. High-risk children are often clustered
in classrooms with a high density of other high-risk
students, thus presenting the teacher with additional
management challenges. Rejecting and non-supportive
responses from teachers further exacerbate the problems
of aggressive children. Such children often develop
poor relationships with teachers and receive less
support, nurturing, and instruction and more criticism
in the classroom. Some evidence suggests that teachers
retaliate in a manner similar to parents and peers.
Walker and Buckley (Walker, 1995; Walker & Buckley,
1973) report that antisocial children are less likely
to receive encouragement from teachers for appropriate
behavior and more likely to be punished for negative
behavior than well-behaved children. Aggressive children
are also frequently expelled from classrooms. In our
own clinic studies with conduct problem children aged
three to seven years, over 50 percent had been asked
to leave three or more schools by second grade. The
lack of teacher support and exclusion from the classroom
exacerbates not only these children's social problems,
but also their academic difficulties, and also contributes
to the likelihood of school dropout. Finally, recent
research has shown that poorly managed classrooms
have higher levels of classroom aggression and rejection
that, in turn, influence the continuing escalation
of individual child behavior problems. A spiraling
pattern of child negative behavior and teacher reactivity
can ultimately lead to parent demoralization, withdrawal
and a lack of connection and consistency between the
socialization activities of the school and home. While
most teachers want to be active partners in facilitating
the bonding process with parents, many lack the confidence,
skills, or training to work collaboratively with families.
Teacher education programs also devote scant attention
to building relationships and partnerships with parents
or implementing social and emotional literacy curriculums.
This literature suggests that a preventive model
needs to promote healthy bonds or "supportive
networks" between teachers and parents and children
and teachers. Strong family-school networks benefit
children due to parents' increased expectations, interest
in, and support for their child's social and academic
performance, and create a consistent socialization
process across home and school settings. The negative
cycle described above can be prevented when teachers
develop nurturing relationships with students, establish
clear classroom rules about bullying, prevent social
isolation by peers, and offer a curriculum which includes
training students in emotional literacy, social skills,
and conflict management. Considerable research has
demonstrated that effective classroom management can
reduce disruptive behavior and enhance social and
academic achievement. Well-trained teachers can help
aggressive, disruptive, and uncooperative children
develop the appropriate social behavior that is a
prerequisite for their success in school. Teacher
behaviors associated with improved classroom behavior
include the following: high levels of praise and social
reinforcement; proactive strategies such as preparing
children for transitions and setting clear, predictable
classroom rules; effective use of short, clear commands,
warnings, reminders, and distractions; tangible reinforcement
systems for appropriate social behavior; team-based
rewards; mild but consistent response costs for aggressive
or disruptive behavior including Time Out and loss
of privileges; and direct instruction in appropriate
social and classroom behavior, problem-solving and
self-management skills.
Theoretical Rationale/ Conceptual Framework for the
Incredible Years Child Training Series
Moffit (Moffitt, 1993; Moffitt & Lynam, 1994)
and others have argued that some abnormal aspect of
the child's internal organization at the physiological,
neurological, and/ or neuropsychological level (which
may be genetically transmitted) is linked to the development
of Conduct Disorders, particularly for "life
course persisters" (i. e., those with a chronic
history of early behavioral problems).
Children with conduct problems have been reported
to have certain temperamental characteristics such
as inattentiveness, impulsivity, and Hyperactivity
Attention Deficit Disorder. Researchers concerned
with the biological aspects of the development of
conduct problems have investigated variables such
as neurotransmitters, autonomic arousal system, skin
conductance and hormonal influences, and some findings
suggest that such children may have low autonomic
reactivity (i. e., low physiological response to stimuli).
Other child factors have also been implicated in child
Conduct Disorder. For example, deficits in social-cognitive
skills contribute to poor emotional regulation and
aggressive peer interactions. Research has shown that
children with ODD/ CD may define problems in hostile
ways, search for fewer cues when determining another's
intentions and focus more on aggressive cues. Children
with ODD/ CD may also distort social cues during peer
interactions, generate fewer alternative solutions
to social problems, and anticipate fewer consequences
for aggression. The child's perception of hostile
intent in others may encourage the child to react
aggressively. Research reveals that aggressive behavior
in children is correlated with low empathy across
a wide age range which may contribute to a lack of
social competency and antisocial behavior. Additionally,
studies indicate that children with conduct problems
have significant delays in their peer play skills;
in particular, difficulty with reciprocal play, cooperative
skills, turn taking, waiting, and giving suggestions.
Finally, reading, learning and language delays are
also implicated in children with conduct problems,
particularly for "early life course persisters"
(Moffitt & Lynam, 1994). For these children, low
academic achievement often manifests itself during
the elementary grades and continues through high school.
Poor academic achievement also predicts adolescent
drug abuse in both cross-sectional (Jessor, 1987;
Newcomer, Maddahian, & Bentler, 1986) and longitudinal
samples (Smith & Fogg, 1978). The relationship
between academic performance and CD is bi-directional.
Academic difficulties may cause disengagement, increased
frustration, and lower self-esteem, which contribute
to the child's behavior problems. At the same time,
noncompliance, aggression, elevated activity levels,
and poor attention limit a child's ability to be engaged
in learning and achieve academically. Thus, a cycle
is created in which one problem exacerbates the other.
This combination of academic delays and conduct problems
appears to contribute to the development of more severe
CD and school failure.
The data concerning the possible biological, socio-cognitive
and academic or developmental deficits in children
with conduct problems suggest the need for parent
and teacher training programs which help them understand
children's biological deficits (their unresponsiveness
to aversive stimuli and heightened interest in novelty)
and support their use of effective parenting and teaching
approaches so that they can continue to be positive
and provide consistent responses. The data regarding
autonomic underarousal theory suggests that these
children may require overteaching (i. e., repeated
learning trials) in order to learn to inhibit undesirable
behaviors and manage emotion. Parents and teachers
will need to use consistent, clear, specific limit-setting
that utilizes simple language and concrete cues and
reminders. Additionally, this information suggests
the need to directly intervene with children and focus
on social learning needs such as problem-solving,
perspective taking, and play skills as well as literacy
and special academic needs.
Brief Description of Intervention
The Incredible Years Series is a comprehensive program
for parents, teachers, and children with the goal
of preventing, reducing, and treating behavioral and
emotional problems in children ages two to eight.
The core of the program is the BASIC parent training
component which emphasizes parenting skills such as
playing with children; helping children learn; using
effective praise, incentives, and limit-setting; and
handling misbehavior. Additional parent training components
include an ADVANCE series which emphasizes parent
interpersonal skills such as effective communication,
anger management, problem-solving between adults,
and ways to give and get support, and a SCHOOL series
which focuses on parenting approaches designed to
promote children's academic skills.
To facilitate generalization from home to the school
environment, a training series for teachers providing
effective classroom management skills was added to
the Incredible Years Series. The last addition was
the training series for children (Dina Dinosaur Curriculum),
a "pull out" treatment program for small
groups of children exhibiting conduct problems. This
curriculum emphasizes emotional literacy, empathy
and perspective taking, friendship development, anger
management, interpersonal problem-solving, following
school rules, and school success.
The BASIC component, which is the core program, MUST
be implemented, and other components may be added
according to the particular family and child risk
factors. A brief description of the parent, teacher,
and child programs is provided below.
Parent Training Programs
BASIC. The BASIC parent training program is guided
by the cognitive social learning and attachment relationship
theories described above. It is a 12 to 14 week program
for parents involving facilitator-led group discussions
of 250 video vignettes. The program teaches parents
child-directed interactive play, empathy, and reinforcement
skills, which help parents achieve a realistic, develop-mentally
appropriate understanding of their children and their
temperaments in order to foster attachment and nurturing
relationships. The latter half of the program focuses
on nonviolent discipline techniques, including "Time
Out" and "Ignore," logical and natural
consequences, and problem-solving strategies. Finally,
the program teaches parents appropriate monitoring
strategies and how to respond to children in clear,
predictable ways. The school-age version of the BASIC
parent training series (developed with a more culturally
diverse population) is designed for use with parents
of children up to age eight (grade three).
SCHOOL. The Supporting Your Child's Education (SCHOOL)
program was designed to teach parents to strengthen
their child's reading and academic readiness and promote
strong connections between home and school by developing
partnerships with teachers.
ADVANCE. The ADVANCE parent training program is also
guided by cognitive social learning theory and utilizes
effective aspects of marital and depression therapy
(Jacobson, Schmaling, & Holtzworth-Monroe, 1987).
This program is a 10 to 12 week supplement to the
BASIC program and addresses other family risk factors
such as depression, marital discord, poor coping skills,
and lack of support. The program content includes
teaching cognitive self-control strategies, problem-solving,
communication skills and ways to give and get support.
All of the training programs utilize
a collaborative training process of group discussion
guided by trained facilitators, and program materials
include videotapes, detailed manuals for facilitators,
parent books and audiotapes, and home activities and
refrigerator notes.
Teacher Training Program
The teacher training program includes a six-day (or
42-hour) workshop for teachers, school counselors,
and psychologists that involves group-based training
to target effective classroom management strategies
for dealing with misbehavior; promoting positive relationships
with difficult students; strengthening social skills
in the classroom, playground, bus, and lunchroom;
and teachers' collaborative process and positive communication
with parents (e. g., the importance of positive home
phone calls, regular meetings with parents, home visits,
and successful parent conferences). For indicated
children (i. e., children with Conduct Disorder),
teachers, parents, and group facilitators will jointly
develop "transition plans" that detail classroom
strategies that are successful with each individual
child; goals achieved and remaining; characteristics,
interests, and motivators for the child; and preferred
methods of contacting parents. This information is
passed on to the following year's teachers.
Additionally, teachers learn how to prevent peer
rejection by teaching the aggressive child appropriate
problem-solving strategies and helping his/ her peers
respond appropriately to aggression. Teachers are
encouraged to be sensitive to individual developmental
differences (i. e., variation in attention span and
activity level) and biological deficits in children
(e. g., unresponsiveness to aversive stimuli, heightened
interest in novelty), as well as how to respond to
these differences in positive, accepting and consistent
ways. Physical aggression in unstructured settings
(e. g., playground) is targeted for close monitoring,
instruction and incentive programs.
Child Training Program
(Dinosaur Curriculum)
Dina Dinosaur's Social Skills and Problem-Solving
Curriculum was guided by child risk factor research
and aims to enhance children's appropriate classroom
behaviors (e. g., quiet hand up and listening to teacher),
promote social skills and positive peer interactions
(e. g., waiting, taking turns, asking to enter a group
and complimenting, etc.), help children develop appropriate
conflict management strategies, and reduce conduct
problems. In addition, the program teaches children
ways to integrate into the classroom and develop positive
friendships. The curriculum is used as a "pull
out" program for treating small groups of five
to six children with conduct problems. These small
group sessions can be offered twice a week for an
hour or once a week for two hours (see "Future
Directions" for how program is used as a classroom-based
curriculum). Finally, the child program is organized
to dovetail the parent and teacher training programs.
Summary
Each of the three types of training programs described
above targets different antecedents of Conduct Disorder
in the home, classroom, and school setting, as well
as in the individual child and his/ her peer group.
Each of the three sets of curriculums has been designed
to be practical, "user friendly," and implemented
by trained facilitators including school personnel.
Initially, these facilitators will receive extensive,
group-based training to conduct the classroom and
parent interventions. Additionally, self-administered
manuals have been developed for the teacher and parent
training programs so that participants can make-up
missed sessions in a cost-effective manner.
Each of the three interventions includes a 500 page
manual outlining content; group facilitator scripts
(including questions for group discussions); homework
or classroom activities; refrigerator and blackboard
notes outlining key points; videos; and books for
children, parents, and teachers.
Trained group facilitators use the videotaped vignettes
to facilitate discussion, problem-solving, and sharing
of ideas among teachers. Group facilitators help participants
discuss important principles and practice new skills
through role-playing and classroom assignments.
Evidence of Program Effectiveness
Incredible Years Parent Training Studies with
Children Diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder
and/or Conduct Disorder
Over the past 20 years, the BASIC program has been
evaluated extensively as a treatment program in a
series of six randomized studies with more than 800
children referred to the program for conduct problems.
These studies have shown that the BASIC program results
in significantly improved parental attitudes and parent-child
interaction, a reduction in parents' use of violent
forms of discipline, and reduced child conduct problems.
Effects have been sustained up to three years after
intervention (Webster-Stratton, 1990b).
The ADVANCE program has been shown in a randomized
study to be a highly effective treatment for promoting
parents' use of effective problem-solving and communication
skills, reducing maternal depression, and increasing
children's social and problem-solving skills. These
effects were obtained over and above the significant
changes obtained in the BASIC program (Webster-Stratton,
1994). Later studies combining BASIC and ADVANCE replicated
these findings and have shown effects lasting up to
one 4year (Webster-Stratton & Hammond, 1997).
Users have been highly satisfied with both programs,
and the drop-out rates have been low regardless of
the family's socioeconomic status.
Incredible Years Parent
Training Studies with High-risk Families
The BASIC program was also evaluated as a selective
prevention program in two randomized trials with over
500 Head Start families representing a multi-ethnic
(50 percent minority) population living in poverty
situations. In the first study, results indicated
that the parenting skills of Head Start parents who
received training and the social competence of their
children significantly improved compared with the
control group families. This data supported the hypothesis
that strengthening parenting competence and increasing
the parental involvement of high-risk welfare mothers
in children's school-related activities helps to prevent
children's conduct problems and promote social competence
(Webster-Stratton, 1998b; Webster-Stratton & Reid,
1999a). Most of these improvements were maintained
one year later. The second study replicated the findings
of the first study with Head Start parents and also
evaluated adding a second year booster parent intervention
utilizing abbreviated components of the ADVANCE and
SCHOOL programs (Webster-Stratton, Reid & Hammond,
in press). Two-year follow-up results of this study
are currently being conducted. Results evaluating
program effectiveness according to minority group
status (Caucasian, Hispanic, African American and
Asian American) indicate significant improvements
and high satisfaction for all groups (Reid & Webster-Stratton,
2001).
These findings have been independently replicated
in three other studies with families of children with
conduct problems (Scott, 1999; Taylor, Schmidt, Pepler,
& Hodgins, 1998; Miller, Kamboukos, Klein, &
Coard, 1999) and in three prevention trials in low
income child care centers with primarily African American
families in Chicago (Gross, Fogg, & Tucker, 1995;
Gross, Fogg, Webster-Stratton, & Grady, 1999),
with Spanish-speaking Head Start families in New York
(Miller & Rojas-Flores, 1999), and with a multi-ethnic
group of Head Start parents in Massachusetts (Arnold
et al., in progress).
Incredible Years Teacher
Training Studies
The teacher training program was first evaluated in
a randomized trial with 133 children diagnosed with
conduct problems, and analyses compared child training
and parent training with and without teacher training.
Post-treatment classroom observations of teacher behavior
consistently favored conditions in which teachers
received training. Trained teachers were less critical
and less harsh than control teachers. Trained teachers
used more praise and were more nurturing, less inconsistent,
and reported more confidence in teaching than control
teachers. Results also indicated that in classrooms
where teachers were trained, children were observed
to be significantly less aggressive with peers and
were more cooperative with teachers than children
in untrained teacher classrooms. Trained teachers
also reported that children had increased academic
competence compared to children in control classrooms
(Webster-Stratton & Reid, 1999).
Nearly identical findings emerged in a randomized
trial with 272 Head Start children wherein teachers
and parents received the training programs and were
compared with those receiving regular Head Start services.
Additionally, in classrooms where teachers received
training, children were observed to have higher school
readiness scores (engagement and on-task behavior)
and increased pro-social behaviors, as well as significantly
reduced peer aggression. Teachers' reports of parent
bonding and involvement in school, as well as children's
social competence, were also significantly higher
for trained teachers than for untrained teachers.
These findings have been independently replicated
by Arnold (in progress) in a randomized study involving
eight daycare centers (12 intervention and 8 control
classrooms). Results indicated that teachers in the
intervention classrooms reported using more effective
teaching strategies and less lax discipline than teachers
in control classrooms. Moreover, intervention teachers
reported fewer aggressive behaviors than did teachers
in control classrooms.
Incredible Years Child
Training Studies— Dina Dinosaur Curriculum
The Dina Dinosaur Curriculum for children was evaluated
in two randomized trials with conduct-disordered children
ages four to eight. The first of these studies showed
that the 20 to 22 week child training program resulted
in significant improvements in observations of peer
interactions. Children who had received the Dinosaur
Curriculum were significantly more positive in their
social skills and conflict management strategies than
children whose parents received parent training only
or served as untreated controls. Results showed that
the combined parent and child training was more effective
than parent training alone and that both were superior
to the control group. One year later, the combined
parent and child intervention showed the most sustained
effects.
In the second study, the effects of the 20 to 22
week child training program were replicated in terms
of improved peer conflict management skills in comparison
to children who only received parent training (Webster-Stratton
& Reid, 1999). When child training was combined
with teacher training, there were improved reductions
in aggressive behavior in the classroom.
Summary of Results
The Incredible Years training programs have been shown
to affect the following risk and protective
factors:
Parents
