Currently in the mental health professions, there is keen interest in evidence-based treatments. Among the psychotherapies for children and adolescents, parent management training (PMT) is without peer. No other treatment for children has been as thoroughly investigated, and as widely applied as has PMT. In this book, Dr. Alan Kazdin brings together the conceptual and empirical bases of this treatment, as applied to children and adolescents with oppositional, aggressive, and antisocial behavior. The book's first half provides the background, principles, and concepts underlying PMT, detailing the clinical application of treatment with concrete examples of how therapists should work with parents and children. Kazdin also highlights the wide body of research on PMT to demonstrate the empirical basis of this intervention, to convey what is understood about how PMT works, and to identify what can be done to enhance the effects of treatment. The book's second half is a treatment manual of PMT, as applied in outpatient treatment for children and adolescents referred for oppositional, aggressive, and antisocial behavior. The PMT manual, which in its entirety is included in the book, details the particulars of the therapy: what is done to and by whom, what is said by the therapist, and what to expect at each stage of treatment. It also contains handouts, charts, and aides for parents. Both halves of the book move from the general (background, principles, and theory) to the specific (e.g., techniques; dialogues among the therapist, parent, and child; and materials used in treatment). Informed by research, the book remains concrete and grounded in clinical realities. Alan Kazdin is one of the most respected clinical psychologists in the country and has dedicated over twenty years to research and treatment for children.

Alan E. Kazdin, Ph.D. is Director and Chairman of the Child Study Center and John M. Musser Professor of Psychology at Yale University School of Medicine. He also Directs the Yale Child Conduct Clinic, an outpatient treatment service for children and their families. He received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Northwestern University (1970). Prior to coming to Yale, he was on the faculty of The Pennsylvania State University and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He has been a fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, President of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy, recipient of awards fro the American Psychological Association and the Association for Advancement, Chairman of the Psychology Department at Yale. He has been editor of various journals (Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Behavior Therapy, Psychological Assessment, Clinical Psychology, Science and Practice and Current Directions in Psychological Science). His research focuses primarily on the development, treatment, and clinical course of aggressive and antisocial behavior in children and adolescents and child, parent, family, and contextual influences that contribute to child dysfunction and therapeutic change. He has published over 550 articles and chapters and authored or edited over 35 books on treatment, child and adolescent disorders, and methodology and research design.