Examining the Impact of Child Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) on Family Functioning

Abstract

Research supports that child parent relationship therapy (CPRT), a filial therapy approach, has strong effects on participating parents and children. Some speculate that filial therapy improves the family system; however, minimal research exists to support this claim. Using a single-case design, researchers examined CPRT's impact on the functioning of 8 families. Results revealed that 6 families experienced statistically significant improvements in targeted areas of family functioning. Results from self-reported measures indicated that 7 families improved in family satisfaction, 4 in cohesion, 3 in communication, and 1 in flexibility. Observational measures also revealed improvements: 5 families in flexibility, 4 families in cohesion, and 4 families in communication. The results support that the benefits of CPRT may extend to the family system.

Assessing Play‐Based Activities, Child Talk, and Single Session Outcome in Family Therapy with Young Children

“…Drawing on this concept, empirically supported dyadic play therapy models, such as child–parent relationship therapy (CPRT: Landreth & Bratton, ), parent–child interaction therapy (PCIT: McNeil & Hembree‐Kigin, ), and theraplay (Jernberg & Booth, ), have been designed to improve adult–child communication and strengthen the security of the parent–child attachment relationship. Some findings support that use of such dyadic play therapy methods can also generate positive effects in the larger family system (Cornett & Bratton, ).…”

Predicting Sibling Relationship Quality from Family Conflict: A Longitudinal Study from Early Adolescence to Young Adulthood

“…Another strength of the study includes the measurement of conflict between multiple family dyads, as previous research on the outcomes of familial conflict typically focused on single dyads (e.g., parental) as predictors rather than assessing the family in a more systemic way. This is especially relevant given that observational, direct, and contingency-based learning likely occurs between all family members and, in addition, most developmental psychologists and contemporary family therapies view the family as a complex system of interacting and reciprocal individuals [70][71][72].…”

A Time to Reflect on JMFT

“…Good examples of professional development articles on research methods in JMFT include those by Seedall and Wampler (); Wittenborn, Dolbin‐MacNab, and Keiley (); Oka and Whiting (); and Gambrel and Butler (). Also, a good illustrative mix of quantitative methods can be seen in the work of Cornett and Bratton (); Christenson, Crane, Bell, Beer, and Hillin (); Guo and Slesnick (); and Oka, Sandberg, Bradford, and Brown (). Likewise, good qualitative research can be both sophisticated and important, as illustrated in the work of Gerlock, Grimesey, and Sayre () and Richardson, Davey, and Swint ().…”