Adapting the Incredible Years child dinosaur social, emotional, and problem-solving intervention to address comorbid diagnoses

Young children who are referred to mental health agencies because of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct problems (CP) frequently have comorbid diagnoses or symptoms such as attention deficit disorder (ADD) with or without hyperactivity (ADHD), language/learning and developmental, or autism spectrum disorders. Research has shown that the Incredible Years Child Dinosaur programme offered to children with comorbid issues is successful at reducing behaviour problems and increasing social and emotional competence. This article examines ways in which this small group therapy programme is tailored to address the individual goals of each child so that the intervention is developmentally and therapeutically appropriate. It discusses group composition, as well as the importance of specific content and teaching methods for children with ADHD, academic and language delays and mild autism.

It has been brought to Emerald’s attention that the article “Adapting the Incredible Years child dinosaur social, emotional, and problem-solving intervention to address comorbid diagnoses” by Webster-Stratton, Carolyn and Reid, M. Jamila published in the Journal of Children’s Services, Vol. 3 No. 3, 2008, failed to disclose conflict of interests prior to publication. Author Carolyn Webster-Stratton disseminates the Incredible Years treatment and stands to gain from favourable reports. Because of this, she has voluntarily agreed to distance herself from certain critical research activities, including recruitment, consenting, primary data handling and data analyses. The authors apologise for not disclosing the information prior to publication. The University of Washington has approved these arrangements.