The development of behavioral parent training research and changes that have taken place in the field over the past 20 years are reviewed. The author describes the evolution according to three phases. Phase 1, Early Work-Child Focus (1960-1970), is seen to have emphasized the analysis of child behavior change. Phase 2, Mid-Period--Parent Focus (1970-1980), considered child behavior change as a function of parent behavior change. Phase 3, Family Focus, explored the impact of training techniques on both parent and child behavior. Each phase is analyzed along four dimensions: objectives, related influences, measurement, and findings. It is suggested that the file is moving in two separate directions: the development of intervention techniques that treat specific behavior problems applicable to many children and families, and development of intervention approaches to treating comprehensive family interaction problems, such as child abuse. Common problems of documentation and measurement are cited for both approaches, as are the advantages of a combination of the approaches. (CL)