(PS8-A4) The Relation Between Parental Locus of Control and Willingness to Implement PMT Strategies

Though there is significant empirical support for the efficacy of Parent Management Training (PMT) in reducing disruptive behavior, successful outcomes are largely dependent on parental use of strategies outside of sessions. Parental locus of control (PLOC) is an important parenting variable that may influence parents’ willingness to implement PMT strategies. Parents with external PLOC are less likely to believe they are able to change the child’s behavior, which can be a barrier to treatment. In this study, parents watched brief videos detailing six PMT strategies (child-directed interaction, effective commands, praise/positive attention, ignoring, time out, and removal of privileges) and rated their willingness to implement the strategy using selected Treatment Acceptability Rating Form – Revised (TARF-R) items. PLOC was measured using the Parental Locus of Control scale. Participants in this preliminary sample are parents (N=36) of children ages 2-12 with borderline or clinically significant Externalizing scale scores on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Parents who reported prior participation in PMT or ABA were excluded. Pearson product moment correlation analysis indicated a statistically significant inverse relationship between overall willingness to implement the PMT strategies presented (r = -.34, p = .04), indicating greater externality of PLOC was related to lower willingness to use strategies. Correlation analyses were also conducted to assess the relationship between PLOC and individual strategies. Results indicated statistically significant inverse relationships between PLOC and willingness to implement CDI (r = -.38, p = .02) and effective commands (r = -.34, p = .04). For the remaining strategies, correlations were negative but were not statistically significant (praise/positive attention: r = -.24, p = .16; ignoring: r = -.09, p = .61; time out: r = -.33, p = .05; removal of privileges: r = -.29, p = .09). Additionally, a hierarchical multiple regression was conducted to assess the predictive power of PLOC on willingness to implement, above and beyond the influence of disruptive behavior severity. Severity of disruptive behavior, as measured by SDQ Externalizing score, was not a statistically significant predictor of PLOC; F(1, 34) = .002, p = .96, Adjusted R² = -.03. This finding is counter to prior research and may be related to small sample size or use of the SDQ to capture disruptive behavior. The addition of PLOC to the model accounted for a small portion of the variance in willingness to implement; F(1, 33) = 4.7, p = .04, Adjusted R² = .07. These preliminary results are consistent with prior research findings that external parental locus of control is related to lower treatment engagement and poorer treatment outcomes. Limitations included small sample size, as data collection is ongoing. Planned sample of 131 subjects suggested in a priori power analysis will be collected by August 2023. Future research may examine the clinical implications of these findings, such as PMT adaptations for parents who believe their child’s behavior is outside of their individual control.