Parent training may raise parents' self-belief, judged against their own start

The review

1. 01

   Who took part

   The review pooled 25 studies with 683 parents in training groups. Their children were aged 1 to 10 with autism, ADHD or cerebral palsy; most studies were in Australia.

2. 02

   What they did

   Parents took a parent training programme, most often a version of Triple P, run by a psychologist or another health worker. The paper does not say how long the programmes lasted.

3. 03

   What happened

   Across 25 studies, parents' self-belief rose from the start to the end, though studies differed a lot. The rise was clear for parents of children under 5, not for older children, and the gap between them was not clear. The figures compare each group only with its own start, so they cannot show that training caused the rise.

What the review found

1. No comparison

   Across 25 studies, parents' self-belief rose from the start to the end of training.

   • Rule: With a coach or therapistused

   Pooled analysis of 25 studies with 683 people · no comparison group · they rated themselves · ⚠ whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited

2. No comparison

   Parents of children under 5 rose in self-belief from the start to the end of training.

   Pooled analysis of 18 studies with 523 people · no comparison group · they rated themselves · ⚠ whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited

3. No comparison

   Licensed programmes saw self-belief rise; unlicensed ones did not clearly.

   Pooled analysis of 23 studies with 669 people · no comparison group · they rated themselves · ⚠ whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited

Source