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Evidence summaries

Parent Training Support for Intellectually Disabled Parents

Parent training programmes may support intellectually disabled parents and improve their parenting knowledge and skills. Level of evidence: "C"

A Cochrane review [Abstract] 1 included 3 studies with a total of 62 mothers and 63 parents with intellectual disability. The objective was to assess the effectiveness of parent training interventions for parents with intellectual disabilities to support parenting. No meta-analysis was possible. One study reported improved maternal-child interaction following group parent training compared with the control group (40 mothers). The second study reported some improvements in parents knowledge of life threatening emergencies, ability to recognize dangers and identify precautions and smaller improvements in their ability to implement precautions, use medicines safely and recognize child illness and symptoms (63 parents of whom 45 completed the study). The third study reported improvement in child care and safety skills following the intervention (22 mothers).

Comment: The quality of evidence is downgraded by study quality (unclear allocation concealment) and by imprecise results (limited study size for each comparison).

References

  • Coren E, Hutchfield J, Thomae M, Gustafsson C. Parent training support for intellectually disabled parents. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2010;(6):CD007987. [PubMed]

Primary/Secondary Keywords