Date of Award

1985

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

This study sought to determine whether demographic variables, parent perceptions, and/or therapist perceptions were predictive of success, in terms of treatment outcome, using the social learning family therapy approach for families of aggressive boys. Treatment outcome for the sample of 28 families was defined as gain scores from pre- to post-assessment using the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist and the Parent Daily Report. Scores were divided according to high-gainers and low-gainers using a median split. Families of high- and low-gainers were not significantly different regarding demographic variables, nor did parents and therapists report significantly different perceptions of high- and low-gainers. A significant relationship was found between parent and therapist perceptions of children's change. The collective set of demographic, parent, and therapist variables were not predictive of treatment outcome. It was concluded that demographic baseline variables and post-treatment parent and therapist perception measures are not useful predictors of the extent of successful treatment for families undergoing social learning family therapy for childhood aggression. Implications for practice and further research are discussed.

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