School-Based Groups for Parents of Children with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: Pilot Results

Abstract

Research on services for families of children with emotional and behavioral disorders has identified family psychoeducation as a promising modality for service delivery. The current paper reports the results of pilot testing two multi-family psychoeducation groups in a school setting. Parents of 15 children receiving school services for emotional and behavioral disorders participated in two psychoeducation groups. Families completed surveys pre- and post-intervention on family-level and child-level outcomes. Among outcome variables, attention-related problems demonstrated significant improvement and a substantial effect size. Other outcomes were positive, with effect sizes generally in the moderate range. Despite the small sample size and limited measurements, these results offer further support for the promise of psychoeducation for parents of children with emotional and behavioral disorders.