The effects of short term interpersonal cognitive problem solving therapy with young children

The primary aim of this study is to investigate the effects of short term Interpersonal Cognitive Problem Solving (ICPS) training with pre-school children compared to an alternative treatment of Music Therapy (MT). The MT treatment served to investigate the relationship between creativity and Alternative Solutions Thinking (AST). No treatment control was included in the design (Study 1). Seven-month follow-up measures of effects from the treatments are included (Study IT), to determine the stability of therapeutic gains. The results reveal a successful elevation of AST and Consequential Thinking (CT) following ICPS training, stable over at least seven months and a sleeper effect from the MT treatment. Behavioural observation revealed improved social interactive behaviours following treatment, but there is some indication that behavioural gains may not be stable. The influence of music on AST and CT was further examined in Study III by comparing AST and CT fluency of children who attended a musically enriched pre-school to that of the children who received short term MT treatment and a non-treatment Control group. The children in Study III proved significantly better at AST and CT than the children in the previous studies were. Finally, in Study IV, an alternative mode of mediating ICPS skills was attempted. This involved a short training of pre-school staff to apply ICPS training techniques in daily dealings with the children. Girls benefited more from this treatment, and only CT skills were elevated. Results are related to previous findings in ICPS research and discussed in terms of developmental theories, especially Vygotsky’s conception of thought development and Crick and Dodge’s (1994) social information processing model. A developmental relationship between AST and CT is suggested and it is argued that AST may be a form of creative thought. Implications of the results for education and therapy are discussed