Elsevier

Research in Developmental Disabilities

Volume 30, Issue 5, September–October 2009, Pages 961-968
Research in Developmental Disabilities

Parent training: A review of methods for children with developmental disabilities

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2009.01.009Get rights and content

Abstract

Great strides have been made in the development of skills and procedures to aid children with developmental disabilities to establish maximum independence and quality of life. Paramount among the treatment methods that have empirical support are treatments based on applied behavior analysis. These methods are often very labor intensive. Thus, parent involvement in treatment implementation is advisable. A substantial literature on parent training for children has therefore emerged. This article reviews recent advances and current trends with respect to this topic.

Section snippets

Issues in parent training

The general consensus is that a great need exists for parent involvement in intervention with their children who evince ID (Mahoney, Robinson, & Perales, 2004; Matson et al., 1997a). Furthermore, researchers have suggested that the momentum for parent involvement has been growing (Gavidia-Payne & Hudson, 2002). Those involved in the field also underscore the need to focus heavily on educational and theraputic programs on children from birth to 6 years of age (Majnemer, 1998; Matson, 2007a;

Treatment

A variety of intervention strategies have been tried to enhance parent skills for their children with ID. Matthews and Hudson (2004) emphasize that interventions should be based on sound theoretical principles and evidence demonstrating effectiveness of the treatments. We concur with these assertions. These aims and objective have typically been achieved in the framework of applied behavioral analysis and/or behavior therapy. Having said this, a variety of approaches and methods have been found

Operant conditioning

Alvey and Aeschleman (1990) describe a limited application of the parent training model. In their study the used a single case design to demonstrate the efficacy of teaching 3 children with ID to eat more independently at fast food restaurants. The authors report enhanced teaching skills on the part of the mother and enhanced eating skills on the part of the children. Mueller et al. (2003) taught 9 parents to implement pediatric feeding protocols in a hospital setting. Two parents were exposed

Training packages

To further enhance the efficacy of parent training, efforts to teach basic principles of applied behavior analysis in groups of parents has also been described. Baker and Brightman (1984) describe a model to accomplish this goal with 7 parents. The group met for 7, 2-h weekly evening sessions. Training covered basic behavioral principles such as conducting a task analysis, and using chaining, shaping and reinforcement methods to train self-help skills. Parents were given weekly reading

Manuals

The use of structured training materials for teaching parent skills to caregivers of children with ID is not a particularly new concept. Heifetz (1977), for example, reports on the use of instructional manuals on behavioral principles to enhance self-help skills of parents whose children evince ID. The 20 weeks program also focused on dealing effectively with challenging behaviors and language skills. An interesting twist to this study was that simply reading the manuals was as effective as

Training strategies

Hudson (1982) looked at another facet of training, the particular treatment strategies the therapist employed. He compared 4 groups of 10 parents each. They were: 1) verbal instructions; 2) verbal instructions plus teaching behavioral principles; 3) verbal instructions plus modeling and role-playing; and, 4) a wait list control group. The verbal instructions plus modeling and role-playing was the most effective intervention. The author concluded that it was essential to employ training methods

Conclusion

Parent training should serve as a center price for interventions geared toward children with ID. Many of the most effective treatments are psychological in origin, and are specific to behavior therapy and applied behavior analysis. Additionally, without remediation, social skills deficits, challenging behaviors and co-occurring psychopathology, which are common in this population, are likely to persist (Appelgate, Matson, & Cherry, 1999; Dawson, Matson, & Cherry, 1998; Matson et al., 1996;

References (77)

  • J.L. Matson

    Current status of differential diagnosis for children with autism spectrum disorders

    Research in Developmental Disabilities

    (2007)
  • J.L. Matson

    Determining treatment outcome in early intervention programs for autistic spectrum disorders: A critical analysis of measurement issues in learning based interventions

    Research in Developmental Disabilities

    (2007)
  • J.L. Matson et al.

    Reliability of the assessment of dual diagnosis (ADD)

    Research in Developmental Disabilities

    (1998)
  • J.L. Matson et al.

    Differential diagnosis of PDDNOS in children

    Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders

    (2007)
  • J.L. Matson et al.

    The convergent validity of the matson evaluation of social skills for individuals with severe retardation (MESSIER)

    Research in Developmental Disabilities

    (1998)
  • J.L. Matson et al.

    Assessing challenging behaviors in children with autism spectrum disorders: A review

    Research in Developmental Disabilities

    (2007)
  • J.L. Matson et al.

    Comorbid psychopathology with autism spectrum disorder in children: An overview

    Research in Developmental Disabilities

    (2007)
  • J.L. Matson et al.

    Validity of the mania subscale of the diagnostic assessment for the severely handicapped-II (DASH-II)

    Research in Developmental Disabilities

    (1997)
  • J.L. Matson et al.

    Current status of intensive behavioral interventions for young children with autism and PDD-NOS

    Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders

    (2008)
  • J.L. Matson et al.

    Characteristics of autism as assessed by the Diagnostic Assessment for the Severely Handicapped-II (DASH-II)

    Research in Developmental Disabilities

    (1996)
  • J.L. Matson et al.

    Characteristics of stereotypic movement disorder and self-injurious behavior assessed with the diagnostic assessment for the severely handicapped (DASH-II)

    Research in Developmental Disabilities

    (1997)
  • J.L. Matson et al.

    Do anxiety disorders exist in persons with severe and profound mental retardation?

    Research in Developmental Disabilities

    (1997)
  • J.L. Matson et al.

    The behavioral function of feeding problems as assessed by the Questions About Behavioral Function (QABF)

    Research in Developmental Disabilities

    (2005)
  • J.L. Matson et al.

    A review of methodological issues in the differential diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders in children

    Research in Autism Disorders

    (2007)
  • J.L. Matson et al.

    The effects of intellectual functioning on the range of core symptoms of autism spectrum disorders

    Research in Developmental Disabilities

    (2008)
  • J.L. Matson et al.

    Cutoff scores, norms and patterns of feeding problems for the Screening Tool of fEeding Problems (STEP) for adults with intellectual disabilities

    Research in Developmental Disabilities

    (2008)
  • J.L. Matson et al.

    Nosology and diagnosis of Rett Syndrome

    Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders

    (2008)
  • J.L. Matson et al.

    Early identification and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders in young children and infants. How early is too early?

    Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders

    (2008)
  • E. Myrbakk et al.

    Psychiatric disorders and behavior problems in people with intellectual disability

    Research in Developmental Disabilities

    (2008)
  • K.M. Plant et al.

    Reducing problem behavior during care-giving in families of preschool-aged children with developmental disabilities

    Research in Developmental Disabilities

    (2007)
  • J.E. Ringdahl et al.

    Assessment and treatment of aggressive behavior without a clear social function

    Research in Developmental Disabilities

    (2008)
  • J. Rojahn et al.

    The Aberrant Behavior Checklist and the Behavior Problems Inventory: Convergent and divergent validity

    Research in Developmental Disabilities

    (2003)
  • A.N. Singh et al.

    The use of risperidone among individuals with mental retardation: Clinically supported or not?

    Research in Developmental Disabilities

    (2005)
  • C.D. Advocate et al.

    Side effect profiles of atypical antipsychotics, typical antipsychotics, or no psychotropic medications in persons with mental retardation

    Research in Developmental Disabilities

    (2000)
  • G.L. Alvey et al.

    Evaluation of a parent training programme for teaching mentally retarded children age-appropriate restaurant skills: A preliminary investigation

    Journal of Mental Deficiency Research

    (1990)
  • H. Appelgate et al.

    An evaluation of functional variables in adults with mental retardation by using the Questions About Behavioral Function Scales (QABF)

    Research in Developmental Disabilities

    (1999)
  • B.L. Baker et al.

    Behavioral training for parents of mentally retarded children: One-year follow-up

    American Journal of Mental Deficiency

    (1980)
  • B.L. Baker et al.

    Effects of parent training on families of children with mental retardation: Increased burden or generalized benefit?

    American Journal on Mental Retardation

    (1991)
  • Cited by (97)

    • The effectiveness of the Stepping Stones Triple P seminars for Korean families of a child with a developmental disability

      2022, Heliyon
      Citation Excerpt :

      Secondly, children with a DD need more parental assistance with tasks such as generalization of skills from educational settings to the home settings (Matson et al., 2009). Compared to interventions based on applied behavior analysis, parenting programs can be a more cost-effective way to provide parents with strategies to teach their child new skills and plan structured activities for their child to practice these new tasks (Matson et al., 2009). There are several evidence-based parenting interventions available to parents of a child with a DD that are effective in reducing child behavior difficulties (Skotarczak and Lee, 2015).

    • Positive parenting and its mediating role in the relationship between parental resilience and quality of life in children with developmental disabilities in Java Island, Indonesia

      2021, Research in Developmental Disabilities
      Citation Excerpt :

      Therefore, such parents tend to be dependent on teachers or therapists (Yuwanto & Wahyuningsih, 2017), which may explain why parents' knowledge about their children's characteristic was non-significantly related to the aspects of quality of life. Other studies revealed that knowledge should be enhanced in terms of structure, for instance, through parental training, to be applicable to child-rearing (Matson, Mahan, & LoVullo, 2009; Susman, 2012). Parents in Indonesia have limited access to parenting education programmes or other structured information, especially about rearing children with developmental disabilities (Intan, 2019; Sumargi, Sofronoff, & Morawska, 2014; Tomlinson & Andina, 2015).

    • Rapid Eating in an Adolescent with IDD: Parent Coaching Via Telehealth

      2022, Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities
    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text