FUTURES EXPO SERIES
THE SCHOOL PARENT- CHILD INTERACTION THERAPY ( PCIT ) PROJECT
Improving academic , mental health and wellbeing outcomes for children with disruptive behaviour disorders
RESEARCH PROJECT
Australian classrooms are among the world ’ s most disorderly . Disruptive , destructive , and aggressive behaviours persist throughout life and lead to later mental illness , family dysfunction and violence , academic failure , and criminality , making them a serious public health concern .
The PCRC team partnered with primary schools in South-West Sydney to co-develop the world ’ s first schoolbased clinics to provide Parent-Child Interaction Therapy ( PCIT ), a gold standard program for managing emotional , oppositional and defiant behaviour in young children .
The unique program uses state of the art technology to deliver tailored in vivo coaching strategies to parents and teachers by a certified therapist .
> Fair Education Grant , UNSW Industry Seed Grant and AMP Tomorrow Fund Grant .
> School PCIT has been successfully transported to a public primary school setting and adapted for school delivery .
> At post and followup , parents ' therapy satisfaction scores averaged 4.7 out of 5 .
> In the 30 families who ' ve completed treatment so far , school PCIT has significantly reduced parent- and teacher-reported child problem behaviours ( p <. 001 ).
Teachers are also provided with support services designed to help better manage problematic behaviours within the classroom .
PCIT is offered free of charge to identified at-risk students and their parents and teachers . The clinics operate from Ingleburn and Condell Park Public schools servicing the greater Campbelltown and Bankstown areas .
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