Increases in Parent Attendance to Behavioral Parent Training Due to Concurrent Child Treatment Groups

Though behavioral parent training has been demonstrated to be an effective intervention for child behavior problems, it continues to suffer from high attrition rates. Few variables have been found to predict or decrease high attrition rates from parent training classes. The present study found 43-52% increases in attendance rates for parents whose children were concurrently enrolled in child treatment groups (social skills training or homework skills training) in comparison to parents of children who received childcare only. Similar increases in homework completion were also found for these groups. Possible reasons for these increased attendance rates as well as implications for clinical practice and future research are discussed.