Parent Education for Young Children With Autism and Disruptive Behavior: Response to Active Control Treatment

Abstract

This study examines parent and child characteristics in young children with autism spectrum disorder and disruptive behavior who showed a positive response to a parent education program in a randomized clinical trial of parent training. Children with autism spectrum disorder (N = 180) were randomized to parent training (PT) or parent education program (PEP) for 6 months. Using the Clinical Global Impression–Improvement scale, masked independent evaluators rated positive response in 68.5% of children in PT compared to 39.6% in PEP. We compared baseline characteristics and change in parental stress, strain, competence, and mental health for participants who showed a positive response to PEP (PEP-R) to those who did not (PEP-NR). We also compared change in child and parent measures for PEP-R participants to those who showed a positive response to PT (PT-R). At baseline, PEP-R and PEP-NR participants did not differ on any demographic or clinical characteristics. Parents in PEP-R reported significant reductions on the Parenting Stress Index, Caregiver Strain Questionnaire, and Parent Health Questionnaire, and increases on the Parenting Sense of Competence scale. Improvements in child disruptive behavior and parental stress, strain, competence, and mental health for PEP-R participants were similar to PT-R participants. Vineland Daily Living Skills improved only for children in PT-R. PEP was an active control treatment with nearly 40% of participants showing a positive response. Change in child disruptive behavior and parental stress, strain, competence, and mental health were remarkably similar for participants independently rated with a positive response to PEP and PT.

FUNDING

This research was supported in part by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) [MH079130,MH080906,MH080965,MH081105,MH081148,MH081221], the National Center for Research Resources [5KL2RR024138,UL1 RR025008], the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences [UL1 TR000042], and the Marcus Foundation. This empirical article is a secondary analysis of our multisite NIMH grant [Yale University/Emory University MH081148; L. Scahill, PI] Randomized Trial of Parent Training for Young Children with Autism. The primary report paper was published was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in April 2015. Three other reports have been published from this study, and one additional manuscript is under review. The current study has no overlap with these prior reports.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported in part by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) [MH079130,MH080906,MH080965,MH081105,MH081148,MH081221], the National Center for Research Resources [5KL2RR024138,UL1 RR025008], the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences [UL1 TR000042], and the Marcus Foundation. This empirical article is a secondary analysis of our multisite NIMH grant [Yale University/Emory University MH081148; L. Scahill, PI] Randomized Trial of Parent Training for Young Children with Autism. The primary report paper was published was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in April 2015. Three other reports have been published from this study, and one additional manuscript is under review. The current study has no overlap with these prior reports.