Citation

MacMillan VM, Guevreniont DC, Hansen DJ. J. Fam. Violence 1988; 3(4): 313-326.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, West Virginia University, 26506 Morgantown, West Virginia; Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, 01655 Worcester, MA

Copyright

(Copyright © 1988, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/BF00989980

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Multiple sources of stress and deficient problem-solving skills have been identified among maltreating parents. In the present study, a problem-solving intervention was evaluated with a multiply distressed, abusive and neglectful mother. Problem-solving skills were trained sequentially in a multiplebaseline design. Training focused on improving judgments related to child care and managing daily stress. The impact of training was examined in relation to problem-solving skill improvements, as well as social insularity, affect, and stress which appeared to compromise child care abilities. Problem-solving training resulted in a substantial increase in generation of alternative solutions and in the quality of plans to implement solutions on both training and generalization vignettes. Moreover, training resulted in positive changes in social insularity, negative affect, and self-reported stress and anxiety. Most of these gains were maintained at 1- and 5-month follow-ups. There were no further reports of child maltreatment during the 21 months following intervention.