Kho Kim Lee, Lewis Andrew J, Almeida Renita A
School of Psychology, Murdoch University, Perth, WA 6150, Australia.
Institute of Health and Wellbeing, Federation University Australia, Berwick, Melbourne, VIC 3805, Australia.
Children (Basel). 2024 Dec 20;11(12):1552. doi: 10.3390/children11121552.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Parent-child attachment and family relationships have been identified as risk factors for childhood internalising symptoms such as anxiety and depressive symptoms. This mixed-methods evaluation examined the feasibility of a recently developed attachment-based family intervention, Behaviour Exchange Systems Therapy-Foundations (BEST-F), delivering 16 h of therapy over 8 weeks to treat internalising symptoms in children aged between 3 and 11 years.
The quantitative outcomes of this uncontrolled study of 17 families were based on the parent-reported Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) measure, completed at four-timepoints (baseline, pre-, post-intervention, and follow-up), while qualitative data were collected from interviews with participants at follow-up.
Pre- and post-BEST-F intervention results demonstrated a significant change in internalising symptoms from the borderline and clinical range to the normal range, with a large effect size ( = 0.85). Notably, additional reductions in internalising symptoms were reported two months after cessation of treatment, with a very large effect size ( = 1.85). Furthermore, there were substantial reductions in child externalising symptoms and parental mental health symptoms, with large effect sizes ranging from = 0.80 to 1.12. Qualitative reports were consistent with these quantitative findings.
These pilot results suggest that children presenting with clinical-range internalising symptoms may benefit from family-based approaches where the parent-child relationship is a focus.
背景/目的：亲子依恋和家庭关系已被确定为儿童内化症状（如焦虑和抑郁症状）的风险因素。这项混合方法评估研究了最近开发的基于依恋的家庭干预措施——行为交换系统疗法基础版（BEST-F）的可行性，该疗法在8周内提供16小时的治疗，以治疗3至11岁儿童的内化症状。
这项针对17个家庭的非对照研究的定量结果基于家长报告的儿童行为清单（CBCL）测量，在四个时间点（基线、干预前、干预后和随访）完成，而定性数据则在随访时通过对参与者的访谈收集。
BEST-F干预前后的结果表明，内化症状从临界和临床范围显著转变为正常范围，效应量较大（=0.85）。值得注意的是，表示在治疗停止两个月后内化症状进一步减轻，效应量非常大（=1.85）。此外，儿童外化症状和父母心理健康症状也大幅减轻，效应量较大，范围从=0.80至1.12。定性报告与这些定量结果一致得出。
这些初步结果表明，出现临床范围内内化症状的儿童可能从以亲子关系为重点的家庭治疗方法中受益。
