A one-session intervention for parents of young adolescents: Videotape modeling and motivational group discussion

Parent training groups frequently show low attendance rates and are often costly to administer. Accordingly, there is an urgent need to develop and evaluate brief, effective interventions that can be delivered in a timely and cost-effective manner. Using two therapeutic components that have demonstrated efficacy, the following study attempted to demonstrate the effectiveness of a brief, 2-hour parenting program. Eighty-one families were randomly assigned to the control or videotape modeling and group discussion (VMG) condition. Self-reports and observer ratings reflected a trend toward greater parental involvement among parents in the VMG condition compared to parents in the control group. Findings from this study are promising and show that even a brief, 2-hour intervention can be effective at motivating parents to change behavior.