Teacher Child Interaction Training (TCIT) Creates a Positive Classroom Environment: Improving Attachment and Management of Child Behavior Problems

Abstract

By improving the quality of early teacher-child relationships, a child may improve his socio-emotional competence and decrease problem behaviors. Teacher Child Interaction Training (TCIT), adapted from Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), is a school-based prevention program in which teachers are taught to use the principles of learning and behavior management in the classroom to enhance positive interactions and attachment, and to prevent and reduce problem behaviors in young children. In the present study, changes in teacher and child behavior were experimentally analyzed within a multiple-baseline design across two classrooms with five teachers and thirty nine preschool children. Teacher and child behavior were measured through behavioral observations and clinical rating scales. Systematic visual analyses of the graphs of the repeated measures in time series demonstrated that the teachers increased their positive attention skills and the children decreased disruptive behavior. Results of repeated-measures ANOVAs indicated significant positive changes in children's behavior as rated by the teachers. Furthermore, teachers' ratings correlated significantly with behavioral observations, supporting the validity of the clinical ratings measure. This study supports TCIT's use as a method to increase positive interactions between teachers and students, and as a universal prevention program for behavior problems in preschool classrooms.