Practice Profile: Parent Training Programs for Juvenile Antisocial Behavior

This practice aims to treat and prevent antisocial behavior in young people. The practice is rated Promising for reducing oppositional/disruptive disorder, general antisocial behavior, and aversive parental behavior; and for improving parental competence, and parent-child interactions/relations. The practice is rated Ineffective for affecting aggressive behavior, delinquent behavior, parental cognitions, parental stress, parent relation/family quality, and parental psychopathology.

Practice Goals

Up to 20 percent of children and adolescents exhibit antisocial behavior [e.g., aggression, violence, delinquency] at least once during their formative years (Beelmann et al. 2023). Antisocial behavior has implications in both the short-and long-term. In the short-term, antisocial behavior manifests on a spectrum ranging from disruptive conduct to violent and criminal behavior. In the long-term, when unaddressed, these behaviors are associated with diminished educational attainment, increased likelihood of unemployment, increased risk of alcohol and substance use disorders, and elevated levels of criminal activity, which can ultimately lead to incarceration. Antisocial behavior is also linked with higher rates of school dropout, hospitalization, and early mortality, as well as family instability and the intergenerational transmission of antisocial behavior (Beelmann et al. 2023; see also Farrington 2007; Moffitt 1993;). 

In response, parent training programs have been developed and applied as a method to address antisocial behavior in youth. The overall goal of parent training programs is to prevent and reduce antisocial behavior in children and adolescents by promoting positive parenting skills and behaviors.

Practice Components

Parent training programs are curriculum- or manual-based interventions designed to enhance parenting skills and promote a positive parent-child relationship. For example, interventions might develop and strengthen skills such as providing age-appropriate supervision, positive reinforcement, emotional and social support, and non-aggressive limit setting. The programs might also instruct parents in how to perceive and adequately respond to a child’s verbal and nonverbal communication. Two parent training programs illustrative of this practice are The Incredible Years BASIC–Parent Training and Parent Child Interaction Therapy.

Incredible Years BASIC–Parent Training is a group-based program that fosters the use of positive parenting and behavior management strategies. During the group sessions, parents are shown video vignettes and asked by coaches to work together to problem-solve the scenarios, which cover a variety of topics (e.g., child-directed play, praise and rewards, effective limit setting). Parents are also guided to set weekly goals, practice parenting strategies at home, and have a weekly telephone call with another parent from their group (Little et al. 2012).

Parent Child Interaction Therapy is a two-phase training program that teaches parents to use positive interaction and discipline skills, thereby reducing children’s problem behaviors and parental physical abuse. Parents receive instruction and coaching on enhancing their relationship with their child, increasing positive interactions with their child, and giving their child specific commands, such as timeouts (Nixon et al. 2003). 

As these two examples highlight, the features of parent training programs can vary regarding content, setting, format, and other modalities, but the programs focus on increasing positive parenting and relationship-building skills to reduce antisocial behavior in children and adolescents. 

Practice Theory 

Parent training programs are largely based on social learning theory, which maintains that parents and caregivers play a strong role in shaping children’s behavior. Social learning theory posits that children learn behaviors from their parents through observation, imitation, and modeling (Bandura 1969; Beelmann et al. 2023). For example, low parental supervision might lead a child to believe that there are no consequences for their misbehaviors. Parent training programs also use elements of coercive interaction theory, which holds that the relationship between child and parent is bidirectional. Thus, a parent scolding their child for misbehavior might cause the child to escalate their behavior, leading the parent to scold with more intensity and causing the cycle to repeat. Coercive interaction theory suggests that ineffective parent discipline in problem situations establishes a cycle of negative and forced interactions, which, over time, can lead to antisocial behavior (Granic and Patterson 2006; Patterson et al. 1992). Taken together, parent training programs leverage principles of social learning theory and coercive interaction theory to shape behavior in a constructive way with the overall goal of preventing and treating antisocial behavior (Beelman et al. 2023). 

These sources were used in the development of the practice profile:

These sources were used in the development of the practice profile:

Bandura, Albert. 1969. “Social-Learning Theory of Identificatory Processes.” In Handbook of Socialization Theory and Research, ed. David A. Goslin (Chicago, IL: Rand McNally), 213–262. 

Farrington, David P. 2007. “Childhood Risk Factors and Risk-Focused Prevention.” In The Oxford Handbook of Criminology, Fourth Edition, ed. Mike Maguire, Rod Morgan, and Rober Reiner (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press), 602–640.

Granic, Isabela, and Gerald R. Patterson. 2006. “Toward a Comprehensive Model of Antisocial Development: A Dynamic Systems Approach.” Psychological Review 113(1):101–131.

Little, Michael, Vashti Louise Berry, Louise Morpeth, Sarah Blower, Nick Axford, Rod Taylor, Tracey Bywater, Minna Lehtonen, and Kate Tobin. 2012. “The Impact of Three Evidence-Based Programmes Delivered in Public Systems in Birmingham, UK.” International Journal of Conflict and Violence 6(2):260–72.

Moffitt, Terrie E. 1993. “Adolescence-Limited and Life-Course-Persistent Antisocial Behavior: A Developmental Taxonomy.” Psychological Review 100(4):674–701.

Nixon, Reginald D.V., Lynne Sweeney, Deborah B. Erickson, and Stephen W. Touyz. 2003. “Parent–Child Interaction Therapy: A Comparison of Standard and Abbreviated Treatments for Oppositional Defiant Preschoolers.” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 71(2):251–60.

Patterson, Gerald R., John B. Reid, and Thomas J. Dishion. 1992. Antisocial Boys: A Social Interactional Approach. Vol. 4. Castalia Publishing Company.

Following are CrimeSolutions-rated programs that are related to this practice:

Triple P: Positive Parenting Program

The Incredible Years BASIC–Parent Training Program

GenerationPMTO (Parent Model Training Oregon)

Adults and Children Together (ACT) Raising Safe Kids Program

The Pathways Home Foster Care Reunification Intervention

Strengthening Families Program: For Parents and Youth 10-14

Early Pathways

Family Check-Up (FCU) for Children

Family Check-Up (FCU) for Adolescents

Child-Parent Center Program (Chicago, Ill.)

KEEP (Keeping Foster and Kinship Parents Supported and Trained)

Why might a practice's outcome ratings differ from the ratings of specific programs encompassed by that practice?