Abstract
We examined behavioral markers of caregiver involvement and the ways in which family participation was related to treatment outcomes in 47 elementary school children with SED enrolled in a school-based intensive mental health program. Measures of caregiver involvement included therapeutic home visits, attendance at therapeutic meetings, completion of ratings on the daily point sheet, and extra communications with the therapeutic team on the point sheet. Greater initial impairment was associated with greater caregiver involvement. Greater caregiver involvement was linked to improvement in child thought processes, increased ability to provide emotional and social supports for the child, and greater overall child functioning at discharge. Our findings also reflected increased therapists’ attempts to provide additional in-home services in cases where caregivers demonstrated a decline in their ability to provide for their children’s physical and material needs, or in which therapists discovered that the family functioning was more impaired than what was initially assessed. We provide a case study that exemplifies many of these findings.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cheney, D., & Barringer, C. (1995). Teacher competence, student diversity, and staff training for the inclusion of middle school students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 3, 174–182.
Comer, J. P., Haynes, N. M., Joyner, E. T., & Ben-Avie, M. (Eds.). (1996). Rallying the whole village: The Comer process for reforming education. NewYork: Teachers College.
Curtis, W. J., & Singh, N. N. (1996). Family involvement and empowerment in mental health service provision for children with emotional behavioral disorders. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 5, 503–517.
Dishion, T. J., & Kavanagh, K. (2000). A multilevel approach to family-centered prevention in schools: Process and outcome. Addictive Behaviors, 25, 899–911.
Doucette Gates, A., Hodges, K., & Liao, Q. (1998). Using the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale: Examining child outcomes and service use patterns. In J. Willis, C. Liberton, K. Kutash, & R. M. Friedman (Eds.), Proceeding of the 11th annual research conferences: A system of care for children’s mental health: expanding the research base (pp. 333–340). Tampa, FL: Research & Training Center for Children’s Mental Health.
Dye, J. S. (1989). Parental involvement in curriculum matters: Parents, teachers, and children working together. Educational Research, 31, 20–35.
Greene, L., Kamps, D., Wyble, J., & Ellis, C. (1999). Home-based consultation for parents of young children with behavioral problems. Child and Family Behavior Therapy, 21, 19–45.
Hodges, K. (2000). Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS). Ann Arbor, MI: Functional Assessment Systems.
Hodges, K., Doucette Gates, A., & Liao, Q. (1999). The relationship between the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS) and indicators of functioning. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 8, 109–122.
Hodges, K., & Wong, M. M. (1996). Psychometric characteristics of a multidimensional measure to assess impairment: The Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS). Journal of Child and Family Studies, 5, 445–467.
Kutash, K., Duchnowski, A. J., Sumi, W. C., Rudo, Z., & Harris, K.M. (2002). A school, family, and community collaborative program for children who have emotional disturbances. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 10, 99–107.
Mueser, K. (1996). Helping families manage severe mental illness. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Skills, 1, 21–42.
Noser, K., & Bickman, L. (2000). Quality indicators of children’s mental health services: Do they predict improved client outcomes? Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 8, 9–18.
Pavuluri, M. N., Graczyk, P. A., Henry, D. B., Carbray, J. A., Heidenreich, J., & Miklowitz, D. J. (2004). Child and family focused cognitive behavior therapy for pediatric bipolar disorder: Development and preliminary results. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 43, 528–537.
Reynolds, A. J., & Robertson, D. L. (2003). School-based early intervention and later child maltreatment in the Chicago longitudinal study. Child Development, 74, 3–24.
Roberts, M. C., Jacobs, A. K., Puddy, R. W., Nyre, J. E., & Vernberg, E. M. (2003). Treating children with serious emotional disturbances in schools and community: The Intensive Mental Health Program. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 34, 519–526.
Santisteban, D. A., Szapocznik, J., Perez-Vidal, A., Kurtines, W. M., Murray, E. J., & LaPerriere, A. (1996). Efficacy of intervention for engaging youth and families into treatment and some variables that may contribute to differential effectiveness. Journal of Family Psychology, 10, 35–44.
Slesnick, N., & Prestopnik, J. L. (2004). Office versus home-based family therapy for runaway, alcohol abusing adolescents: Examination of factors associated with treatment attendance. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 22, 3–19.
Stevenson, D. L, & Baker, D. P. (1987). The family and school relation and the child’s school performance. Child Development, 58, 1348–1357.
Szapocznik, J., Perez-Vidal, A., Brickman, A. L., Foote, F. H., Santisteban, D., Hervis, O., et al. (1988). Engaging adolescent drug abusers and their families into treatment: A strategic structural systems approach. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 552–557.
Vanderbleek, L. M. (2004). Engaging families in school-based mental health treatment. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 26, 211–224.
Vernberg, E. M., Roberts, M. C., & Nyre, J. (2002). School-based intensive mental health treatment. In D. Marsh & M. Fristad (Eds.), Handbook of serious emotional disturbance in children and adolescents (pp. 412–427). New York: Wiley.
Vernberg, E. M., Jacobs, A. K., Nyre, J. E., Puddy, R. W., & Roberts, M. C. (2004). Innovative treatment for children with serious emotional disturbance: Preliminary outcomes for a school-based intensive mental health program. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 33, 359–365.
Vernberg, E. M., Roberts, M. C., Nyre, J. E., Jacobs, A. K., & Randall, C. J. (this issue). Outcomes and findings of program evaluation for the Intensive Mental Health Program. Journal of Child and Family Studies.
Waugh, T. A., & Kjos, D. L. (1992). Parental involvement and the effectiveness of an adolescent day treatment program. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 21, 487–497.
Woodruff, D. W., Shannon, N. R., & Efimba, M. O. (1998). Collaborating for success: Merritt elementary extended school. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 3, 11–22.
Worthington, J., Hernandez, M., Friedman, B., & Uzzell, D. (2001). Systems of care: Promising practices in children’s mental health, 2001 Series, Volume 11. Washington, D.C: Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice, American Institutes for Research.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Richards, M.M., Bowers, M.J., Lazicki, T. et al. Caregiver Involvement in the Intensive Mental Health Program: Influence on Changes in Child Functioning. J Child Fam Stud 17, 241–252 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-007-9163-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-007-9163-0