Office of Undergraduate Research

Project Connect: Adapting PCIT to Foster Care

This randomized controlled trial funded by the National Institutes of Health examines an innovative adaptation of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), a clinical treatment that has been shown to reduce behavior problems in young children. In standard PCIT, a therapist works with one parent-child dyad at a time in a clinical setting. Project Connect modifies PCIT so that it can be delivered in a community setting using intensive group training and in-home telephone consultation. Two treatment groups will be compared to each other and to a third waitlist control group receiving child welfare services as usual. Analyses will assess caregivers behavior management skills, attitudes, and stress as well as childrens emotion regulation and behavior. Support for this project comes from a federal grant mechanism that specifically encourages the involvement of undergraduate students in research. The project offers a variety of research and clinical training opportunities for motivated students.

Tasks and responsibilities:

Tasks and responsibilities that students have an opportunity to fulfill include, but are not limited to: *Conducting video and survey assessments with participating families *Entering and cleaning data *Helping clinicians facilitate clinical trainings *Assisting with preparing project information for public presentations and manuscripts *Conducting personal interviews with participants to create videos and other materials for future recruitment