Outcomes of a group parent training procedure in families with autistic children

The effects of a parental training program involving three one-day group parent training were evaluated. The training focused on (1) addressing issues of the nature, etiology, and treatment of autism, (2) teaching child management and education skills, (3) discussing family roles and family coping strategies. A total of 24 parents of 23 autistic children participated in the center-based training program, which was performed in three small groups in three different areas of Germany in 1998. The mean age of the children was 8.9 years. The outcome variables included: (a) group training assessments by parents; they evaluated quality of the curriculum, therapist variables, and group atmosphere, using a selfadministered Likert-type-questionnaire format, (b) parental 3-month follow-up assessments of the effects of group training on parent-child interactions and family adaptation, using two self-administered Likert-type questionnaires and a semistructured parent diary. The parent training resulted in (a) a high degree of parental satisfaction with the training format and (b) positive effects on daily parentchild interactions. These findings provide some evidence for the clinical and social validity of the family intervention method examined in this study.