Child maltreatment (CM) constitutes a serious public health problem in the United States and is known to compromise children's developing self-regulation skills and amplify risk for substance use and other regulatory disorders. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), an intensive, 20-session parenting intervention, has been shown to improve the quality of CM parenting, improve positive parenting and child behavior, and produce declines in CM recidivism (Chaffin et al., 2004) though the mechanisms underlying its effects are little understood. This project addresses gaps in the CM intervention literature in that it (a) uses an experimental intervention design to test a theoretical model of change underlying PCIT's effects, (b) includes a battery of neurobehavioral measures of self-regulation, and (c) uses observational measures of parenting in an RCT of an evidence-based intervention for strengthening parent self-regulation, reducing CM, and supporting improvements in child regulation and behavior. Study aims are to: