Effectiveness of a multidisciplinary parent training program for children with developmental disabilities: A...

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Pediatric Health
• Special Education

Background:

• Children with developmental disabilities (DD) often require specialized support.
• Parent training programs can empower families to manage challenges and foster development.
• The Promoting Holistic Development of Young Kids (Poly Kids) program is a multidisciplinary intervention designed for this purpose.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of the Poly Kids parent training program.
• To assess impacts on child development (learning, language, motor skills) and behavior.
• To measure changes in parental stress and child task motivation.

Main Methods:

• A single-blind randomized waitlist controlled trial was conducted.
• 218 parents of children with DD were enrolled (107 intervention, 111 control).
• Outcomes included child assessments (language, motor, cognitive) and parent-reported behavior and stress.

Main Results:

• Intervention group parents reported lower child behavior problems (d=.34) and parenting stress (d=.25).
• Children in the intervention group showed increased expressive language (d=.82) and task motivation (d=.63).
• Significant improvements were observed in child behavior and cognitive skills moving out of clinical ranges for the intervention group.

Conclusions:

• The Poly Kids train-the-trainer program shows initial evidence of effectiveness.
• The program supports families with preschool children with DD.
• Positive impacts were noted on child behavior, language, cognitive skills, motivation, and parental stress.