Social learning family therapy and the treatment of conduct disorder in early childhood: Premise, procedures and prospects

Social learning family therapy hypotheses on the development and sustenance of conduct disorder in early childhood are presented, together with treatment approaches that use parents as the primary agents of change. Research that shows that parent training procedures hold much promise for the treatment of conduct disorder in childhood is briefly reviewed. The prospects of social learning family therapy as a treatment of children with conduct disorder could be significantly enhanced with some attention to methodological and conceptual issues in social learning family therapy research and practice.