Review question

Do parent training interventions help parents with intellectual disabilities to parent adequately?

Background

Parents with intellectual disabilities may find it more difficult than other parents to provide adequate childcare. Parent training programmes are one way of providing support. We reviewed the evidence about the effects of parent training programmes for parents with intellectual disabilities. We found four randomised controlled trials (RCT; a type of experiment where similar people are put into different groups).

Search Date

The evidence is current to July 2017.

Study characteristics

The four RCTs were conducted in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and USA, and involved 192 parents. Each studied a different intervention and considered different outcomes. All but seven of the participating parents were mothers.

Children’s ages ranged from one month to six years and five months. Three interventions were delivered at home, and one in a community venue (e.g. a church). Interventions varied in duration from seven weeks to 12 months. They included a range of practical childcare skills, home safety and developing parents’ ability to respond sensitively to their children. Parents in the control groups all received treatment as usual.

Study funding sources

Each study was sponsored by different funders. One study was funded by the Ontario Mental Health Foundation and the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services Research Grants Program. Another was funded by the Alabama Development Disabilities Council. A third was funded by the Best Practice Parenting Education Initiative of the Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services and the New South Wales Aging and Disability Department. The fourth study was funded by ZonMw, The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development.

Key results

Compared to those parents without parent training, the studies reported some improvements in parents in the intervention group. One study reported improvement in safe home practices, recognition of child illness and safe use of medicines, in favour of the intervention group. Another study reported improvements in childcare and safety, also in favour of the intervention group; and a third study found that parents who had attended parent training reported less child-related parenting stress compared to the control group.

A fourth study reported improvement in mother-child interaction in the intervention group compared with the control group. No study reported that interventions caused harm.

Quality of the evidence

The quality of the evidence ranged from very low to moderate.

Conclusion

There is some low-quality evidence that parent training interventions for parents with intellectual disabilities may support their parenting. It may also help to establish good parent-child relations. However, given the low quality of the evidence, the results should be interpreted with caution. Better-quality research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of parent training interventions for parents with intellectual disabilities. These studies should include fathers and follow-up participants over a longer time period.

Review question

Do parent training interventions help parents with intellectual disabilities to parent adequately?

Background

Parents with intellectual disabilities may find it more difficult than other parents to provide adequate childcare. Parent training programmes are one way of providing support. We reviewed the evidence about the effects of parent training programmes for parents with intellectual disabilities. We found four randomised controlled trials (RCT; a type of experiment where similar people are put into different groups).

Search Date

The evidence is current to July 2017.

Study characteristics

The four RCTs were conducted in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and USA, and involved 192 parents. Each studied a different intervention and considered different outcomes. All but seven of the participating parents were mothers.

Children’s ages ranged from one month to six years and five months. Three interventions were delivered at home, and one in a community venue (e.g. a church). Interventions varied in duration from seven weeks to 12 months. They included a range of practical childcare skills, home safety and developing parents’ ability to respond sensitively to their children. Parents in the control groups all received treatment as usual.

Study funding sources

Each study was sponsored by different funders. One study was funded by the Ontario Mental Health Foundation and the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services Research Grants Program. Another was funded by the Alabama Development Disabilities Council. A third was funded by the Best Practice Parenting Education Initiative of the Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services and the New South Wales Aging and Disability Department. The fourth study was funded by ZonMw, The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development.

Key results

Compared to those parents without parent training, the studies reported some improvements in parents in the intervention group. One study reported improvement in safe home practices, recognition of child illness and safe use of medicines, in favour of the intervention group. Another study reported improvements in childcare and safety, also in favour of the intervention group; and a third study found that parents who had attended parent training reported less child-related parenting stress compared to the control group.

A fourth study reported improvement in mother-child interaction in the intervention group compared with the control group. No study reported that interventions caused harm.

Quality of the evidence

The quality of the evidence ranged from very low to moderate.

Conclusion

There is some low-quality evidence that parent training interventions for parents with intellectual disabilities may support their parenting. It may also help to establish good parent-child relations. However, given the low quality of the evidence, the results should be interpreted with caution. Better-quality research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of parent training interventions for parents with intellectual disabilities. These studies should include fathers and follow-up participants over a longer time period.