2025-2026 Faculty Research Grant

Ronald Coffen and Ryan Peachey (Graduate Psychology).

Behavioral Changes in Clinic-Referred Children Following Caregiver Participation
in the How-To-Talk Parent Training Program.

Parent training programs help parents promote behavioral and emotional development in their children. One parent-friendly program is the How-to-Talk Parent Training Program by Faber and Mazlish which is designed to improve caregivers’ emotional sensitivity, communication skills, and problem-solving. The program implements recorded guidance by Faber and Mazlish, group discussion prompts, role-playing exercises, and practical activities to build skills. Caregivers learn to foster parent-child collaboration, how to set limits, and ways to support emotional regulation.

Existing research shows support for the effectiveness of the How-to-Talk approach for improving children’s behaviors and parent-child interactions. However, studies focus on non-clinical populations with no information about its impact on clinic-referred children. Caregivers of children referred to psychotherapy (e.g., children with symptoms of ADHD, anxiety, or disruptive behavior disorders) particularly need support. Exploring if the user-friendly How-to-Talk approach shows evidence of effectiveness for a clinical population will contribute to the literature.

In summer 2025, the Andrews Community Counseling Center (ACCC) will offer a 7-week How-to-Talk Parent Training Program for up to 12 caregivers of clinic-referred children. Baseline child behaviors will be assessed using behavioral measures such as the frequently used Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) before the program, with follow-ups at program completion, 3 months, and 6 months post-intervention. Changes in child cooperation, emotional regulation, and disruptive behaviors will be analyzed.

This pilot study will evaluate program effectiveness for clinic-referred children. If results are promising, subsequent programs will expand offerings to improve sample size to enhance statistical power and generalizability of results. We anticipate that the program will show significant improvements in emotional and behavioral aspects of functioning for clinic-referred children.