Table. Psychotherapeutic interventions in children up to age 6.
| Indication | Intervention | Age range | Study design | Effect | Authors/year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A) 0–3 years | |||||
| Problems relating to sleep, feeding, and behavior | Psychodynamic mother–child therapy (PMCT)/ interactional guidance (IG); 6 sessions | <30 months; average, 15 months | RCT: comparison of two treatments, no untreated control group (n = 75) | Improvement in sleep, feeding, and crying problems; improvement in maternal sensitivity (IG) and self-esteem(PMCT); effect strength not reported | Robert-Tissot et al. 1996 [e46] |
| Functional problems in the regulation of feeding and sleep behavior | “Watch, Wait, and Wonder” (WWW)/psychodynamic mother childt herapy(PMCT); ca. 10 sessions | 10–30 months | RCT (n = 67) | Lessened severity of problems (assessed by mother), more secure bonding (WWW) | Cohen et al.1999 [e49] |
| Post-partum depression (mother) | Non-directive (NDT), cognitive behavioral (CBT), psychodynamic therapy (PMCT); ca. 10 sessions | 25 months | RCT: 3 treatment groups and 1 untreted control group (n = 193) | Improvement of depression (PMCT) (transient, −2.6 EPDS points); alleviation of relationship problems with child | Cooper et al. 2003 [e54]Muir et al. 1999 [e55] |
| Post-partum depression (mother) | Mother–child therapyGroup interpersonal therapy; ca. 12 sessions | 6–12 months | RCT (n = 39) | Improvement in depressive symptoms and parental stress; improved maternal attitude to child | Clark et al. 2003 [e56] |
| Impaired mother–child relationship | Psychoanalytic mother–child therapy;average, 29 sessions | <18 months | RCT (n = 80): one treated group, one TAU group | Improved maternal depression (d = 0.39), maternal sensitivity (d = 0.42), and mother–child interaction (d = 0.58) | Salomonsson et al. 2011 [36] |
| B) 4 – 6 years | |||||
| Anxiety disorders | Cognitive behavioral therapy | 4–7 years | RCT: 1 treatment group, 1 untreated group (n = 64) | Significant improvement in symptoms of anxiety in the treated group | Hirshfeld-Becker et al. 2010 [40] |
| Anxiety disorders | Intervention based on parent group | 3–5 years | RCT: 1 treatment group, 1 untreated group (n = 146) | Significant improvement in symptoms of anxiety (effect strength not reported) | Rapee et al. 2010 [e57] |
| Post-traumatic stress disorder | Trauma-oriented cognitive behavioral therapy | 3–6 years | RCT: 1 treatment group, 1 untreated group (n = 64) | Significant improvement of PTSD symptoms (mean, from 7.6 to 2.9 symptoms per child) | Scheeringa et al. 2011 [e58] |
| Depression | Parent–child interaction therapy | 3–7 years | RCT: 1 treatment group, 1 control group with psychoeducation (n = 54); 25 dropouts | Significant improvement in depression in both groups (effect of treatment on emotional perception and executive function, d= 0.11/0.83) | Luby et al. 2012 [38] |
RCT, randomized controlled trial; PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder; TAU, treatment as usual