Testing and assessing the effects of Family-Aggression Replacement Training (Family ART)

Abstract

Family Aggression Replacement Training (Family ART) is an expansion of Aggression Replacement Training (ART). The purpose of Family ART is to further enhance social skills and reduce problem behaviour. This is to happen by increasing application of what is learnt in the training sessions, to settings outside that of the training, by actively involving children’s significant persons in the ART programme. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of a Family ART intervention on six families. The assessment was based on pre- and posttest scores on the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS), and qualitative data obtained through semi-structured interviews. The secondary objective of the SSRS and interviews was to determine how any effect may have come about. In addition to this, the interviews were employed to investigate whether the parents experienced personal development. The SSRS results indicated that Family ART was associated with an increase in social skills and a reduction in problem behaviour. Additional support for the effect of Family ART was found in the interview transcripts: Both parents and children expressed that the intervention had benefitted them somehow. Given the low number of participants and the lack of proper control group comparison, the present study was considered explorative and no conclusion was drawn. The findings do indicate that the intervention works as intended, but more rigorous research must be conducted in order to conclude whether or not this is the case.