The impact of Theraplay® therapy on parent-child interaction and child psychiatric symptoms: a pilot study

Abstract

Childhood emotional and behavioral psychiatric problems are a serious developmental risk for long-term psychiatric disorders. The quality of the early parent-child relationship is the most crucial factor for healthy socio-emotional development. Theraplay® is a parent-child interaction therapy combining structured, attachment-based, joyful and adult-led playful sessions with reflective guidance work with the parents. This pilot study evaluates the impact of Theraplay® therapy in improving the quality of parent-child interaction and decreasing the internalizing and externalizing symptoms of children diagnosed with emotional and/or behavioral disorders within a clinical child psychiatric outpatient setting. Participants were eighteen 4-8 year-old children (M= 4.42, SD= 1.54) from two outpatient child psychiatric clinics whose mothers, and in 13 of those cases fathers also participated in the Theraplay® therapy together with the child. Pre-and post-treatment measures included videotaped observations of parent-child interaction quality, and child psychiatric symptoms (CBCL). The results showed improvements in parent-child interaction quality as well as decreases in children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms. The results of this pilot study indicate that Theraplay® therapy may be a useful treatment among children diagnosed with emotional and/or behavioral psychiatric disorders.

Treating children with disturbed attachment and an intellectual disability: Effectiveness of theraplay-based treatment.

“…Theraplay was found to be effective in reducing internalizing problems not specifically related to attachment problems. In addition, several pre–post studies conducted with parent–child dyads across diverse age groups and clinical diagnoses showed Theraplay improved the parent–child relationship and/or the child’s behavior in various settings, including a clinical child psychiatric setting (Bojanowski & Ammen, 2011; Francis et al, 2017; Salo et al, 2020; Wardrop & Meyer, 2009; Weir et al, 2013; Wettig et al, 2011).…”

“…For a detailed description, see Appendix B. The D-EIS differentiates reliable between populations and shows good reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC r = .69; Cronbach's α = .82) and convergent as well as construct validity (Johansson et al, 2008;Salo & Booth, 2020), unlike other MIM-rating scales (Hitchcock et al, 2008;McKay et al, 1996;O'Connor et al, 2004).…”

Maternal Executive Functioning, Emotional Availability and Psychological Distress During Toddlerhood: A FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study

“…Coding differences were negotiated between the coders. To reduce the amount of parameters being estimated in analyses, the four maternal EA dimensions were averaged, and then standardized (composite EA scores have been used also elsewhere, see, e.g., Salo et al, 2020). Higher values on this caregiving composite describe better emotional availability, i.e., more sensitivity/structuring and less intrusiveness/hostility.…”

Psychometric properties of the Marschak Interaction Method of Psychometrics and the Assessment of Parent–Child Interaction within residential care and non-referred settings

“…MIM was originally developed as a qualitative clinical tool or a qualitative observation method. Since the 1990s, several diverse groups have attempted to standardize the method (see, e.g., Hitchcock et al, 2008 ; Martin et al, 2008 ; Bojanowski and Ammen, 2011 ; Salo and Mäkelä, 2018 ). In Denmark, we have come one step closer to further development of MIM with the development of a scoring system with a theoretical anchoring in neuroaffective developmental psychology.…”

“…These are structured and synchronized interactions that can be assessed and measured through MIM-P based on structured interaction activities, where the assessor captures the interaction between the caregiver and child. The purpose is to uncover both the child’s development and developmental processes in the child’s relational environment to find the “key” to relevant goals and interventions aiming to develop the child’s emotional, personality and social skills and support the child’s relational environment ( Marschak, 1960 ; Salo and Mäkelä, 2018 ).…”