[Parent schools: definition, progress and structure]

The institution of parent training is not an innovation. It exists since the beginning of the previous century. Presently, the parent training programmes or the so-called parent schools in Greece are structured programmes with specific coverage and set goals, their ultimate purpose is the prevention of the mental health of the child and they belong to a variety of interventions for parents. They address to parents of infants, toddlers, children and adolescents and show several differences regarding the form, content, purpose and theoretical direction they are based on. There are three categories of parent training programs. The programs that address all parents of the general population, the programs that are designed and implemented in special groups of parents or for a special purpose and the programs that address parents and children with specific serious problems. Usually, depending on their orientation, the parent training programs have either a parent-child relationship orientation (humanistic) or a behavioral orientation (behavioral). Research in the field of parent training saw that interventions based on Cognitive Behavioral Theory seem to be more effective than other interventions. The parent training programs-schools of parents are applied in almost all the regions of Greece. Unfortunately the existing data related to the structure, the content, the theoretical background and the effectiveness of these programs is not enough. The present study tries to review the bibliography concerning the development of the parent training programmes. The most significant data about the categories of the training programmes, as well as information about the structure, the content and the cost of these programmes, are also reviewed. Finally, the most popular programmes are mentioned based on their impact, according to the results of the studies.