A controlled clinical evaluation of the Parents Plus Children’s Programme for parents of children aged 6–12 with mild intellectual disability in a school setting

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the parent training, Parents Plus Children's Programme (PPCP) as an intervention for parents of children with mild intellectual disabilities. Participants were parents of children, aged six to 12, attending a special school for children with mild general learning disability (n = 29). Minor programme adaptations were made. Pre and post-assessment included the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, the Parenting Stress Index, the Kansas Parent Satisfaction Scale and parent identified personal and child-related goals. A significant reduction in clinical range scores for treatment group participants (n = 16) was observed. Conversely, clinical range scores for control group participants (n = 13) increased, or remained elevated. These preliminary results suggest that PPCP may be successfully delivered as a routine community-based intervention and aid to prevent and reduce behavioural problems, reduce parent stress and increase parent confidence and satisfaction. Further investigation of programme effectiveness for parents of children with developmental disability is warranted.

Effects of parent management training programs on disruptive behavior for children with a developmental disability: A meta-analysis

“…The first type, efficacy studies, has studied the effects of PMT when the child has a developmental disability. Such studies include the effect of PMT on parental mental health and/or parenting skills (Tonge et al, 2006;Todd et al, 2010;Davidson, 2011;Gammon & Rose, 1991;Neff, 2012;Niccols & Mohamed, 2000); or child outcomes (Drew et al, 2002); or parent and child outcomes (Chadwick, Momčilović , Rossiter, Stumbles, & Taylor, 2001;Coughlin, Sharry, Fitzpatrick, Guerin, & Drumm, 2009;Feldman & Werner, 2002;Fujiwara, Kato, & Sanders, 2011;Griffin, Guerin, Sharry, & Drumm, 2010;Hand, Raghallaigh, Cuppage, Coyle, & Sharry, 2013;Hudson et al, 2003;McIntyre, 2008aMcIntyre, , 2008bResearch Units on Pediatric Psychopharmacology [RUPP] Autism Network, 2007;Roberts & Pickering, 2010;Quinn, Carr, Carroll, & O'Sullivan, 2006;Tellegen & Sanders, 2014;Whittingham, Sofronoff, Sheffield, & Sanders, 2009). The second type are systematic and literature reviews which also have been conducted on PMT programs for children with a developmental disability (Brookman-Frazee et al, 2006;Gavidia-Payne & Hudson, 2002;Hastings, Robertson, & Yasamy, 2012;Matson et al, 2009;Roberts et al, 2003;Singer, Ethridge, & Aldana, 2007), and review the outcomes of efficacy studies.…”

“…Number of sessions ranged from 4 (Tellegen & Sanders, 2014) to 16 (Plant & Sanders, 2007). Session duration ranged from 60 (Tellegen & Sanders, 2014;Whittingham et al, 2009) to 150 min (Hand, Raghallaigh, et al, 2013;McIntyre, 2008aMcIntyre, , 2008bWilson, 2011).…”

“…The sessions also include group discussions and assigned homework (Quinn et al, 2007). Two types of Parents Plus Programmes evaluated in this meta-analysis -Children's Programme (Coughlin et al, 2009;Quinn et al, 2007) for children ages 6-12 years of age, and a modified version of the Children's Programme, adapted to accommodate children with a developmental disability, examined by Hand, Raghallaigh, et al (2013).…”

“…There are three versions of the SDQparent report, teacher report and child/adolescent report. The parent version of the SDQ was used in three studies (Coughlin et al, 2009;Hand, McDonnell, Honari, & Sharry, 2013;Hand, Raghallaigh, et al, 2013;Quinn et al, 2007).…”

Parenting groups, how long is enough? The efficacy of a community-run Parents Plus Early Years Program as a preschool parenting intervention of modifiable duration

“…In particular, the PPEY Program has been shown to reduce conduct problems, hyperactivity, and parental stress and to help parents move significantly closer to their goals when conducted in a clinical setting by mental health professionals (Griffin, Guerin, Sharry, & Drumm, 2010); however, many parents display limited attendance with clinic-based programs and are less likely to complete treatment (Kazdin, Mazurick, & Bass, 1993), with some parents reporting feeling stigma attached to attending child and adolescent mental health services (Bradby et al, 2007). To overcome these challenges, there is growing interest in delivering communitybased parenting programs (Hand, Ní Raghallaigh, Cuppage, Coyle, & Sharry, 2012;Kilroy, Sharry, Flood, & Guerin, 2011;McGilloway et al, 2012).…”