New York, June 24: If your child is depressed, then a therapy-based treatment for disruptive behavioural disorders can be used as an effective treatment option, a new study suggests.

The researchers studied 229 parent-child pairs after adapting a treatment known as Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) that was developed in the 1970s which added a series of sessions focussing on emotions to correct disruptive behaviour in pre-schoolers, Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.

In standard PCIT treatment, parents are taught techniques for successfully interacting with their children.

The researchers adapted this standard intervention by adding a new emotional development (ED) module to the treatment to target the therapy for childhood depression.

The researchers found that children in the PCIT-ED treatment group had improved functioning and had fewer comorbid disorders. They were rated as having greater emotional regulation skills and greater "guilt reparation" compared with children in the waitlist group.

"The study provides very promising evidence that an early and brief psychotherapeutic intervention that focuses on the parent-child relationship and on enhancing emotion development may be a powerful and low-risk approach to the treatment of depression," said lead author Joan Luby from the Washington University School of Medicine.

For the study, children aged 3-6 years who met the criteria for early childhood depression and their parents were randomly assigned to PCIT-ED treatment or a waitlist group.

Children in the PCIT-ED group completed standard PCIT modules for a maximum of 12 treatment sessions, followed by an emotional development module lasting eight sessions.

Children in the waitlist group were monitored but received no active intervention though after completion of the study, they were offered PCIT-ED treatment.

The researchers assessed before and after treatment or the waiting period, children's psychiatric symptoms, their emotional self-regulation abilities, their level of impairment and functioning, and their tendency to experience guilt. 

Parents were assessed for depression severity, coping styles, and strategies they used in response to their child's negative emotions, and for stress within the parent-child relationship.

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Bengaluru, Sep 25: Karnataka deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Wednesday backed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over the alleged MUDA land allotment scam, saying the latter has done nothing wrong and that he would come out clean in the matter.

He also said Siddaramaiah has no role in the matter and there could be the involvement of officers.

"The order given by the court to investigate him will happen. We are confident that there is no involvement of the Chief Minister," Shivakumar told reporters here.

He said, "if there is anything wrong happened then it must have been done by the officers, which I don’t know, but there is no involvement of the chief minister. I am making it very clear. He will come out clean. That is the message."

ALSO READ: Court orders Lokayukta probe against CM Siddaramaiah in MUDA land allotment case

Shivakumar said some people have expressed their views but they have not pointed out that the Chief Minister has done anything wrong.

On opposition BJP and the JD(S)' demand for Siddaramaiah’s resignation, the DCM said, "people who do politics will continue to do so but isn't there a difference between law and politics."

"There are so many investigations happening against many central ministers but they are still continuing (in their post). Let them resign first then we will discuss about this (Siddaramaiah) resignation."

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday upheld the sanction granted by State Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to conduct an investigation against Siddaramaiah on the allegations of illegalities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife Parvathi by MUDA in Mysuru.

The HC had also vacated its August 19 interim order directing the Special Court for People's Representatives to defer the decision on complaints against the Chief Minister, giving the green signal for ordering a probe.

It had also dismissed Siddaramaiah's petition challenging the legality of the Governor's August 16 order granting approval for investigation under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act, 1988.

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