An indicated preventive intervention research program integrating attachment, attributional,
and behaviorist perspectives was conducted to test the hypothesis that parent–child
relationship disturbances directly effect the child's adjustment to the preschool.
Anxious-withdrawn preschool children and their mothers were divided equally into treatment and
control groups, and assessed on maternal self-report of parenting stress, behavioral ratings of
mother–child interaction, and teacher ratings of the children in the preschool classroom.
Results showed significant changes in the treatment group: mothers in the treatment group
moderated their level of control to a more appropriate, less intrusive level, while children in the
treatment group showed an increase in cooperation and enthusiasm during a problem solving task
with mother. Teacher-rated social competence and anxious-withdrawn behavior indicated
improvement, although only the former was significant. The demonstration of effects of this
home intervention for the mother on the child's behavior in the preschool confirm the
transactional model underlying this study and demonstrate the utility of a parent–child
interaction training component for the prevention of behavioral–emotional problems in
young children.