Evidence-based Approaches for the Treatment of Maltreated Children ― Considering Core Components and Treatment Effectiveness

This volume provides an overview of the research describing the effects of child maltreatment on mental health, cognitive and social-emotional development. It offers descriptions of selected empirically based treatments (EBTs) written by scholars associated with its development, training, or research on its effectiveness. Each contributor presents the theoretical foundation of the EBT and evidence of its efficacy, describes the treatment process and illustrates this process with a case study of its use with a maltreated child, and discusses possible limitations. Following the chapters describing the interventions, the editors address key issues of the dissemination and implementation of these EBTs. They describe the strategies the selected interventions have used to ensure treatment fidelity in training and dissemination from the perspective of implementation science’s core components of implementation. The challenges of implementing EBTs, and the difficulty of fitting protocol to the reality of clinical practice in community mental health settings are also discussed. This volume offers a central source of information for students and practitioners who are seeking effective interventions to address problems associated with child maltreatment.

Anthony J. Urquiza, Ph.D. Dr. Anthony Urquiza is a clinical child psychologist and Director of the CAARE Center, Department of Pediatrics, University of California Davis Medical Center. The CAARE Center provides psychological assessments and a range of mental health treatment services primarily for maltreated children. During the last decade, Dr. Urquiza's primary clinical research interests have focused on two areas, interventions to address child maltreatment, and the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based practices. He has been adapting Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) to families involved in child welfare systems (i.e., physically abusive families, foster families, adoptive families). In addition to his clinical service and research activities, Dr. Urquiza is Director of the PCIT Training Center, which has been involved in training more than 100 community mental health agencies throughout the United States and in several other countries.

Susan Timmer, Ph.D. Susan G. Timmer, Ph.D., is a research scientist at the CAARE Diagnostic and Treatment Center, UC Davis Children’s Hospital, a faculty member of the Human Development Graduate Group, and clinical assistant professor in the School of Medicine at the University of California, Davis. Her research focuses on the effectiveness of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) in different populations of children and families and the effects of parent-child relationship processes and trauma on children’s mental health. Dr. Timmer has also been involved in evaluating the effectiveness of treatment dissemination at the PCIT Training Center.