Research PCIT: (Mersky) Enhancing Foster Parent Training with Parent-Child Interaction Therapy: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment

PCIT is seldom available to foster families, and it rarely has been tested under intervention conditions that are generalizable to community-based child welfare service contexts. To address this gap, PCIT was adapted and implemented in a field experiment using two novel approaches—group-based training and telephone consultation—both of which have the potential to be integrated into usual care. This study analyzes foster-parent-child dyads who were randomly assigned to: (a) waitlist control, (b) brief PCIT, or (c) extended PCIT. Findings indicated that the brief and extended PCIT interventions were associated with a significant decrease in self-reported parenting stress and that the interventions also led to significant improvements in observed indicators of positive and negative parenting. The brief course of PCIT was as efficacious as the extended PCIT intervention. The findings suggest that usual training and support services can be improved upon by introducing foster parents to experiential, interactive PCIT training.