Erica P Messer

• Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), a program for young children and their families, is a strong evidence-based treatment repeatedly receiving the highest rankings in reviews of child mental health treatments (e.g., California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare, 2021; Prevention Services Clearingho...

Objective: To determine whether Parent–Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is as effective at reducing behavior problems for children with a history of trauma and for those who do not complete therapy. Method: Retrospective chart review of patients between 2.5 and 6.5 years of age who participated in PCIT between January 1, 2012, and December 1, 2019,...

The authors adapted the established Child-Adult Relationship Enhancement (CARE) interaction model for use in integrated behavioral health clinics. CARE was modified for delivery in the examination room, during routine primary care visits. Adopting a real-world implementation approach, clinical social workers were trained in the new model—Integrated...

Background: Risk of suicide is a major concern for depressed mothers in the perinatal period. The strongest predictor of completing suicide is having made a previous attempt. Little is known about the clinical features of low-income, depressed mothers who have attempted suicide in contrast to those who have not. Objective: This study examined cl...

Objective: Foster caregivers are tasked with developing good relationships with children and managing child behavior; however, these caregivers often do not have access to evidence-based interventions typically designed for custodial parents and children with behavioral and/or traumatic symptoms in the clinical range. This study examined the feasib...

Depression is prevalent among mothers who participate in home visitation programs. This case study describes In-Home Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (IH-CBT), an empirically based treatment for depressed mothers that is strongly integrated with ongoing home visitation. The use of a Parenting Enhancement for Maternal Depression (PEMD) module was added...

Many studies have established a link between foster care placement instability and child behavioral problems. Evidence-based interventions for behavioral problems, however, are often unavailable to children in foster care given challenges of recruiting behavioral health providers, sustaining funding, and engaging families in intensive interventions...

Parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT), a program for young children and their families, is a strong evidence-based treatment that repeatedly receives the highest rankings possible in reviews of such treatments (e.g., California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare, 2015; nrepp.samhsa. gov). PCIT was originally developed for use with you...

Child maltreatment impacts approximately two million children each year, with physical abuse and neglect the most common form of maltreatment. These children are at risk for mental and physical health concerns and the ability to form positive social relationships is also adversely affected. Child Adult Relationship Enhancement (CARE) is a set of sk...

The authors assessed the ongoing needs of 34 pediatric dog bite victims and their families 1 month after receiving care in a pediatric emergency department. More than 70% of the parents noted at least 1 new concerning behavior in their children, and more than 85% of the parents also endorsed concerns about their own reactions. Half of the parents b...

This retrospective study compared frequencies of aggressive behaviors and abuse histories noted during a psychiatric intake assessment for children where animal cruelty was endorsed and a control sample of youth for whom animal cruelty was not endorsed to determine if rates of concerning behaviors differed significantly. Relative to the control gro...

The Trauma Treatment Training Center (TTTC) at Cincinnati Children's Hospital examined the implementation and effectiveness of Parent–Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) in community agencies working with high-risk families through an awarded grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The current study summarizes posttre...

This article provides an overview of parent management training (PMT) for preschool-age children with aggressive and oppositional behaviors. Assessment strategies and basic concepts of PMT are provided. Theoretical underpinnings and research outcomes are highlighted for some variations of PMT programs that have strong empirical support. These progr...

The present study examined the effectiveness of a bullying prevention program. The responses of 270 fifth grade students on the Peer Relations Questionnaire, the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), and the Pro-social Tendencies Scale were examined before and after participating in the program. Students in the Bully, Bully-Victim, and Neither gro...

Parent—child interaction therapy (PCIT) is an empirically supported treatment to enhance the parent—child relationship and to help parents learn how to effectively manage disruptive behavior in young children. PCIT has been shown to be effective with various populations. However, few reports have documented its use with children exposed to domestic...