Parent Training Programs for School-Age Children With Autism: A Systematic Review

Parent training (PT) is widely used with families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and its benefits for young children and their parents have been documented. However, no reviews have examined the use of PT within interventions delivered to older children with ASD or investigated the added benefit of including a PT component in these interventions. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to explore the state of research regarding the inclusion of PT in interventions for school-age children with ASD and to determine the value added to these interventions by including a PT component. Fifteen PT studies examining 622 child participants with ASD were included. Participants, interventions, and the effects of the interventions are described. Overall, studies demonstrated moderately positive effects for interventions that included PT. Importantly, three studies isolating the added benefit of PT demonstrated an effect size (ES) of 0.33, 95% confidence interval (CI) [0.05, 0.61], indicating the value added to interventions by including parents. More research is needed to understand the development of effective PT, its components, and how to best design these programs to benefit school-age children with ASD.