The Brief Behavioral Intervention for Preschoolers With Disruptive Behaviors: A Clinical Program Guide for Clinicians

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Disruptive behavior problems are the most common referral reason to behavioral health professionals among preschool-age children. Parent management training (PMT) is the primary intervention for the treatment of disruptive behaviors, but current programs have high attrition rates in part due to their length. The Brief Behavioral Intervention (BBI) is a manualized parent management training PMT designed specifically to have fewer sessions in order to limit attrition associated with attending a long series of sessions and for easy implementation in hospital clinics and outpatient settings. Methods BBI consists of five core sessions, each focused on a specific behavioral management skill. These sessions occur on a weekly basis and last from 45 minutes to 1 hour per session, with one booster session after the first 2 weeks if needed. Thus, the intervention lasts from 5–7 weeks. The BBI manual is intended to be used by experienced professionals as a self-teaching guide or by faculty for teaching graduate and medical students interventions for children with disruptive behaviors. Results To date, we have trained seven faculty members, 14 postdoctoral fellows, 44 predoctoral interns, and 19 predoctoral practicum students using this manual. Many of those students use the BBI manual in their daily work. Over the years, we have received positive quantitative and qualitative feedback from the learners. Discussion The creation of this manual, coupled with supervised implementation, has resulted in a new generation of therapists trained in evidence-based strategies within a model brief enough to maintain patient participation and easy to export to myriad settings.

Keywords

• Intervention
• Child
• Psychology
• Preschool
• Child Behavior
• Parent Management Training