Developmental Education for Parents of Delayed Infants: Effects on Parental Motivation and Children's Development

Abstract

This study compared the effectiveness of developmental education for parents with parent education in child management and with a no-education control condition in motivating parents to participate in home treatment programs for developmentally delayed infants. 39 delayed infants, matched for age and severity of delay, and their families were randomly assigned to the 3 treatment groups. The subsequent differential effectiveness of home treatment programs, in terms of the infants' developmental gains, was then examined. Results indicated that the children in the developmental education group gained a greater number of skills, and their parents participated more in the assigned home treatment programs than did parents in the other 2 groups. At follow-up approximately 1 year later, parents who received developmental education continued to participate more than the other parents in their child's treatment program. Developmental education appears to enable parents to discriminate small developmental gains, facilitating the intrinsic motivation involved in working with their children.

One‐year stability of the Measure of Processes of Care

“…There is also evidence that FCC fosters parents' emotional well-being (King et al 1996b(King et al , 1999Rosenbaum et al 1998;Raina et al 2005). Reported child outcomes of FCC are developmental progress or skill development (Moxley-Haegert & Serbin 1983;Caro & Derevensky 1991;Law et al 1998), and a better psychological adjustment (Stein & Jessop 1984;Lewis et al 1990;Stein & Jessop 1991).…”

Parent participation in paediatric rehabilitation treatment centres in the Netherlands: a parents’ viewpoint

“…There is also evidence that FCC fosters parental satisfaction with services (Dunst et al 1988;King et al 1996bKing et al , 1998King et al , 1999King et al , 2004Letourneau & Elliott 1996;Rosenbaum et al 1998;Ireys & Perry 1999). Reported child outcomes of FCC are developmental progress or skill development (Moxley-Haegert & Serbin 1983;Caro & Derevensky 1991;Law et al 1998), and a better psychological adjustment (Stein & Jessop 1984;Lewis et al 1990;Stein & Jessop 1991).…”

Serebral Palsili Çocukların Tedavisinde Aile Odaklı Yaklaşım

“…A developmental education program consisted of providing general and specific information, building on parents' skills, and individualizing services for parents of the developmentally delayed infants resulted in developmental gains for infants. Their parents gained also developmental knowledge and participated more in the home treatment program even at a 1 year follow-up (44).…”