The Impact of Parent Behavior-Management Training on Child Depressive Symptoms

Child depression is a serious public health burden without any currently accepted empirically supported treatments. Given the dire consequences of life-course persistent depression and the developmental roots of depression in childhood, effective treatments and prevention strategies are urgently needed. The parent behavior-management intervention used in the present study is a widely used and accepted treatment. Given mounting pressures toward time-limited therapy and the widely accepted high rates of co-occurring behavior problems in children, clinicians and researchers welcome any evidence that single interventions can promote change in multiple problem areas. Current evidence suggests that the parent behavior-management program tested in this study offers a viable treatment for reducing depressive symptoms in young children.

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