The Incredible Years Series: A Review of the Independent Research Base

The Incredible Years (IY) parent, teacher, and child training series, developed by Carolyn Webster-Stratton, has been studied extensively over the past several decades by the developer, her associates, and by other researchers. While Webster-Stratton has recently summarized much of her work, this paper provides a brief description of the IY programs and focuses on studies published by independent researchers. We review peer-reviewed papers that included either a control group or another intervention group in their design, with particular attention to each training program, combinations of training programs, multicultural applications, and interventions with special populations (e.g., foster parents, children with neurodevelopmental disorders). We also consider the literature on cost-benefit analyses of the program. There is solid evidence for the training program for parents of young children, and the literature provides support for its international applicability, but there is a paucity of independent research addressing the parent programs for children of other ages, the teacher program, the Dina Dinosaur program for young children, and combined programs. We conclude the review with directions for future research and a discussion of the limitations of our own review.