The present study examined the long-term treatment outcomes of the family-centered program Intensive Family Treatment (IFT) for families with multiple problems. We also tested the hypothesis that parental empowerment at the end of IFT constitutes a buffer between the negative influences of parental stress on their children’s behavioral problems afterwards. We included 275 families with multiple problems. Information about parental empowerment and child behavioral problems was gathered at the start and end of IFT and at follow-up, on average 2.8 years (SD = 1.6) later. At follow-up, information was also collected about parental stress and professional support. Data were analyzed through latent regression analyses. Significant improvements in child behavioral problems (effect size 0.60) and parental empowerment (effect size 0.53) were observed during treatment. Improvements were sustainable for child behavioral problems after IFT. Nevertheless, child behavioral problems remained severe on average and might be a stressor for parents. Together with other environmental stressors after IFT, these problems can increase parental stress and subsequently increase child behavioral problems. However, taking into account that professional support after IFT often still is needed, the findings of our study showed that parental empowerment at the end of IFT constitutes a buffer; parental stress had a less negative influence on child behavioral problems at follow-up when parents had a higher level of parental empowerment at the end of IFT. This study stresses the importance of empowering parents during family treatment to successfully cope with environmental stressors after treatment, including the problematic behavior of the child.

本研究检查了以家庭为中心的强化家庭治疗（IFT）计划对有多个问题的家庭的长期治疗效果。我们还检验了以下假设，即在IFT结束时增强父母能力构成了父母压力对其后代孩子的行为问题的负面影响之间的缓冲。我们纳入了275个有多个问题的家庭。在IFT的开始和结束以及后续行动中（平均2.8年（SD = 1.6）），收集了有关父母赋权和儿童行为问题的信息。在随访中，还收集了有关父母压力和专业支持的信息。通过潜在回归分析来分析数据。显着改善儿童行为问题（影响大小为0.60）和增强父母能力（影响大小为0）。53）在治疗期间被观察到。在IFT之后，对于儿童行为问题的改善是可持续的。但是，儿童行为问题平均而言仍然很严重，可能会给父母带来压力。与IFT之后的其他环境压力一起，这些问题会增加父母的压力，从而增加儿童的行为问题。但是，考虑到经常需要IFT之后的专业支持，我们的研究结果表明，在IFT结束时的父母赋权构成了缓冲。当父母在IFT结束时具有较高的父母权能水平时，父母的压力对儿童行为问题的负面影响较小。这项研究强调了在家庭治疗过程中赋予父母权力以成功应对治疗后的环境压力的重要性，