Integrating Dialectical Behavior Therapy With Child and Parent Training Interventions: A Narrative and Theoretical Review

Abstract

There is growing interest among researchers and clinicians in incorporating one of the most efficacious treatments for improving emotion regulation, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), into parenting interventions, with the explicit purpose of improving parental well-being so as to positively impact children's social–emotional outcomes. Integrations of DBT and parenting interventions have ranged considerably, as there is extensive variability across studies in the selection of parenting interventions and the extent to which the DBT concepts are incorporated, the content modified, or the dosage abbreviated. The primary goal of this narrative review is to synthesize the accumulation of DBT and parent intervention literature with an eye toward improving future treatment development efforts in this area, as well as current clinical practice.