Keeping Families In Once They've Come Through the Door: Attrition in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy

We review existing studies of attrition in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), an empirically supported treatment for preschool-aged children with disruptive behavior disorders. Variables identified as pretreatment predictors of attrition in a statistically derived search for pretreatment predictors included maternal distress, negative maternal verbal behaviors during parent-child interaction, and therapist verbal behaviors during initial parent-therapist interactions. The most frequently reported reasons provided by mothers for premature termination of treatment were logistical problems such as difficulty finding transportation or sibling child care. Continued study of variables related to attrition in PCIT is essential to retention of a greater number of families in treatment.