My PCIT: A Personalized Version of PCIT for Culturally Diverse Familes 

Although Behavioral Parent Training Interventions (BPTs) have proven efficacy in the treatment of young children's externalizing behavior problems, there is some evidence that BPTs have poorer engagement and outcomes for ethnic minority families. This may be due in part to mismatches between BPTs techniques and ethnic minority parents' beliefs about the child's problem causes, severity, course, and/or optimal treatment, also known as parent explanatory models (PEMs). Dr. McCabe will describe a program developed to personalize Parent-Child Interaction Therapy designed to be responsive to particular parent explanatory models. 

Personalization is based on the assessment of modifiable, culturally-influenced PEM targets prior to the start of PCIT and the provision of corresponding tools to therapists to increase the cultural congruence of the intervention with relevant parent explanatory models. This type of method provides flexibility in the application of adaptations, tailored to the assessment of culturally-influenced constructs across racial/ethnic groups.

This presentation is being paid for by a private foundation grant to the Selective Mutism Association to support SMA's ongoing commitment to increased inclusivity.

Biography:  Dr. Kristen McCabe  received a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and Spanish from the University of Michigan, and a PhD in Child Clinical Psychology form Wayne State University. She is a Professor of Psychology at the University of San Diego.  Her scholarly work focuses on improving treatment access, engagement, and outcomes for ethnic minority children, with a particular focus on young Mexican American children (ages 2-7) with behavior problems. Dr. McCabe’s work has been funded by a mentored career development award from NIMH that focused on adapting Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), an evidence-based psychotherapeutic intervention for behavior problems in young children, to be more culturally responsive to Mexican American families. Dr.McCabe was a co-investigator on an NIMH grant examining the relation between child, parent, and youth consensus on treatment goals and engagement and outcomes in school-based mental health services. She is currently the co-Principal Investigator on an NIMH R34 focused on the development and pilot testing of a method of personalizing PCIT for culturally diverse families.

Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to:

1. Cite evidence for differential outcomes for ethnic minority families in BPT
2. Explain personalization model as applied to PCIT
3. Illustrate examples of important parent explanatory models