Compliance and noncompliance in anxious, aggressive, and socially competent children: The impact of the child's game on child and maternal behavior

The present study examined the impact of the Child's Game parenting intervention (Forehand McMahon, 1981; McMahon & Forehand, 2003) on child compliance, noncompliance, and aversive behavior in 3 groups of 20 nonreferred preschool children identified as high on dimensions of anxiety/withdrawal, anger/ aggression, or social competence. The impact of the intervention on subtypes of compliance and noncompliance and on maternal behavior was also investigated. Child behavior was assessed using the command task, a structured observational procedure, at both pretest and posttest. Pretest and posttest (1 week later) maternal behavior was evaluated during a free-play period. Pretest group differences were evident in both maternal and child behavior. Pretest-posttest changes were observed in child behavior such that anxious/withdrawn and angry/aggressive children generally showed increases in compliance and decreases in noncompliance and aversive behavior while socially competent children showed no improvement on most behavioral measures. Pretest-posttest changes on subtypes of compliance and noncompliance were also evident and moderated by group membership.