Isabel Silva PhD and Maria Filomena Gaspar PhD Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences University of Coimbra, Portugal

1. APPROACHING ALTERNATIVE CARE
THROUGH AN EMPATHIC LENS –
THE INCREDIBLE YEARS PROGRAMME
Isabel Silva, PhD & Maria Filomena Gaspar, PhD
Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences
University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
BASPCAN Congress, Edinburgh, Scotland
April 13, 2015

2. It is wonderful to be here!
University of Coimbra
I. Silva, Edinburgh, April 13, 2015

3. Overview
• Background
• The Incredible Years Training Programme
• Implementation of the IY in RCC
• Outline some findings
• Comments and questions

4. Background
• Behaviour problems a growing issue in RCC; becoming
more prevalent at younger ages (ISS, 2011, 2012)
• Residential Child Care Staff: Assumes parental,
teaching, counseling and therapeutic functions (Anglin, 2002;
Shealy, 1995; Moses 2000)
• Lack of: Care staff skills to manage behaviour problems;
specific training in evidence-based child management
skills; a clear, coherent, positive framework for delivering
quality care practices (Martins, 2004; Pereira, 2009; Santos, Calheiros,
Ramos & Gamito, 2011)
• Council of Europe, 2009: Recommends the promotion
of quality care to improve children living in residential
settings.

5. How to empower care staff skills in order
to positively deal with resident children?
Training and Group Setting as a
skill’s development context
Research question & challenge…

6. Behaviour problems through a new lens
A New Perspective…

7. • “Family” as metaphor in residential care (Anglin, 2002; Kendrick 2013)
• Research suggests that is possible to consider residential
staff carers’ interventions in the light of current literature on
parental childrearing and parent-child relationships (Bastiaanssen et
al., 2012; Boone, 2012; Petrie et al., 2006)
• Parenting Training research points to positive results in
improving parents skills and reducing behaviour problems in
children (Kaminski et al., 2008; Taylor & Biglan, 1998; Webster-Stratton, 1998)
Why use Parenting Training resources?
Rationale for the study

8. One of the most effective and evidenced-based
psychosocial intervention programmes, for both the treatment
and prevention of conduct disorder in children (3-8 years old)
(Webster-Stratton, 2011; Webster-Stratton & Reid, 2006; Webster-Stratton, Reid, &
Hammond, 2004)
Successfully transported to the Portuguese context (Azevedo et
al., 2013; Cabral et al., 2009/2010; Webster-Stratton, Gaspar, & Seabra-Santos,
2012)
Promising results with other caregivers (foster care,
nursery care) reported increases in positive parenting and
decreases in child conduct problems (Bywater et al., 2011; Bywater,
Hutchings, Gridley, & Jones, 2011; Hutchings & Bywater, 2013; Linares, Montalto,
Li, & Oza, 2006; McDaniel, Braiden, Onyekwelu, Murphy, & Regan, 2011; Nilsen,
2007)
IY offers: 1) Theoretical model (social learning theory;
coercion process; modeling theory; relational and attachment
theories); 2) Structured training in effective parenting
practices; 3) Daily practice; 4) Tollkit to support the care staff
teams in their role
The specific case of the Incredible Years Basic Parent
Programme…

9. Teacher
Programme
6 full day
sessions held
monthly
Child Dinosaur
treatment
Programme: 6
children, 18 - 22
weekly sessions
Child Dinosaur
Classroom
Programme:3
year
curriculum, 2
sessions per
week, 30 weeks
ADVANCED
Programme: 9
sessions helping
adults
communicate &
problem solve
The Incredible Years
Programmes
School Aged
BASIC Parent
Programme:
10 - 12
sessions,
6 - 12 years
Pre-School
BASIC Parent
Programme:
14-18 weekly
sessions,
3 – 6 years
School
Readiness
Programme:
4 pre-school
sessions
2 – 4 years
Infant (eight
sessions) 0 - 12
months toddler
1 - 3 year olds
(13 sessions)
programmes

10. • Translation and adaptation of materials
• Leader training and supervision
• Research
Basic Parenting Programme
- with a community sample
- with a clinical sample
- with socioeconomically-disadvantaged families
- with staff carers in the context of residential child care
Teacher Classroom Management Programme (TCM)
Basic Parenting Programme plus TCM
- research trial in Portugal that aimed to study the efficacy of the
Incredible Years Basic Parent programme plus TCM in the reduction
of early disruptive behaviour in preschoolers
Development of the IY programmes
in Portugal…

11. Participants Children
Ages
Context Duration Design
2 Intervention
Groups (n = 27)
Children
(n = 12)
2 Non-
Intervention
Groups (n = 20)
Children
(n = 13)
3-8 Residential
Child Care
Centers
(RCC)
13 sessions
(1 weekly
session = 2
hours; 2 IY
trained
facilitators)
Exploratory
Study
Non-
Randomized
Assessment: Moment 1 (baseline); Moment 2 (after intervention; 6 months after
M1); Moment 3 (12 months after M1).
Implementation of the IY in RCC: Method

12. I. Silva, Coimbra, January 7,
2014
Group Sessions:
• 13 weeks (2-hour sessions) of training with the IY (Webster-Stratton,
2000)
• Led by two trained professionals in IY
• Run in the residential centre, on the day and time best suited for the
group
• Make-up sessions
Method & Process:
• Focus on cognitive, behaviour & affect, collaborative approach and
skill development through: Group discussion, Video Modeling,
Role plays & practice/rehearsal, Weekly assignments;
Reading materials; Weekly evaluations
Training Targets:
• Play; Involvement; Descriptive Comments
• Praise; Rewards
• Effective Limit Setting; Clear Commands; Household Rules
• Handling misbehaviour; Ignoring; Time-Out; Consequences;
Problem SolvingBottom - use liberally;
Top - use selectively
Intervention

13. Measures
Care Staff: Childrearing
Practices, Sense of Parental
Competence and Depressive
Symptoms
• Adult‐Adolescent Parenting Inventory: Form A &
Form B (AAPI – 2; Bavolek & Keene, 2001)
• Parental Sense of Competence Scale (PSOC;
Johnston & Mash, 1989)
• Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck et al., 1961)
Carer-Child Interaction
• Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System
(DPICS; Robinson & Eyberg, 1981) | Evaluates a range of carer and
child behaviours, while playing with fixed set of toys. The situation was
recorded for 25 minutes at pre-post moments.
Children: Behaviour
Problems Reported by Care
Staff
• Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ;
Goodman, 1997)
Satisfaction with the IY
Programme
• Weekly Evaluation (content, DVD’s, group leaders,
group discussion)
• Final Satisfaction Questionnaire programme overall
(teaching format, usefulness of specific educational
techniques, group leader(s), group support)
(http://incredibleyears.com/for-
researchers/measures/)

14. Some data…
Carer - Child
Interaction
Intervention
IC1 (N=15) IC2 (N=12)
Pre
M±SD
Post
M±SD
Test
(Z)a
Sig
(p)
Pre
M±SD
Post
M±SD
Test
(Z)a
Sig
(p)
CARER
Positive parenting 23.53±13.17 42.60±15.08 -2.95 .003 18.83±9.09 53.42±31.59 -3.06 .002
Negative commands 6.13±3.85 2.73±2.34 -2.39 .017 3.33±4.03 0.75±1.14 -2.20 .027
Total commands 97.87±40.97 68.53±27.68 -2.61 .009 76.42±34.05 42.17±22.39 -2.98 .003
Critical statements 18.00±10.34 10.13±7.68 -2.45 .014 14.25±13.94 5.50±6.10 -2.14 .033
Total critical 24.13±12.80 12.87±9.20 -2.64 .008 17.58±16.22 6.25±6.51 -2.59 .010
CHILD
Negative behaviours 11.27±7.81 5.67±5.08 -2.32 .020 21.55±37.72 5.42±6.83 -2.54 .011
Note: a. Non-Parametric Test: Wilcoxon; Children (3-8 years): (IC1 Pre n=6; IC1 Post n=6); (IC2 Pre n=6; IC2 Post n=5)

15. • These preliminary observations suggest gains in the
quality of the interactions between staff carers and
resident children, in short term, after the delivered of an
evidence-based program, like the IYP. Nevertheless,
future studies must be undertaken (small sample).
• As residential care workers
we want to enhance children’s
empathy, safety, welfare and
well-being.
To sum it up…

16. Some words of the care workers…
• “I was amazed when at dinner time one of the children turned to
another and said: “Good job, you are eating all the fish! Very good!”
(Modelling Principle)
• “The Reward Programme it’s working! The children can tighten their
seat belts alone when we get into the van!” (Principle of rewarding
the daily success)
• “I have learned to apply new strategies, new ways to deal with the
children’s behaviour. The group training allows us to achieve some
consensus in the way we all deal with the children.”
• “For me it was important to improve the relationship with the
children as a result of the improvement of my behaviour. Now, I
think with a “cold head”: I’m an adult, I have to stay calm.”

17. Webster-Stratton, C. (2010). Os Anos Incríveis: Guia de resolução de problemas para pais de crianças dos 2
aos 8 anos de idade (M. I, Donnas Botto, Transl; M. F. Gaspar & M. J. Seabra-Santos, Revisão Científica).
Braga: Psiquilíbrios Edições (Original publicado em 2005).
Silva, I. S., Gaspar, M. F., & Anglin, J. P. (2014). Webster-Stratton Incredible Years Basic Parent Programme
(IY) in child care placements: Residential staff carers’ satisfaction results. Child and Family Social Work, 1-11.
doi:10.1111/cfs.12129
Silva, I. S., & Gaspar, M. F. (2014). Supporting Portuguese Residential Child Care Staff: An Exploratory Study
with the Incredible Years Basic Parent Programme. Psychosocial Intervention, 23(1), 33-41. doi:
10.5093/in2014a4
Silva, I. S. & Gaspar, M. F. (2014). The challenge of improving positive residential care practices: Evidence from
staff experiences in Portugal. International Journal of Child and Family Welfare, 15(1/2), 92-109.
REFERENCES

18. THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION!
COMMENTS & QUESTIONS
For more information, feel free to email:
Isabel Silva | isabel.s.silva@sapo.pt
Maria Filomena Gaspar | ninigaspar@fpce.uc.pt
https://www.facebook.com/anosincriveis.Portugal
http://incredibleyears.com