A Systematic Analysis of Domestic and International Parent Training Programs for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities: Focused on Behavior Intervention

This study aims to systematically analyze and evaluate the overall characteristics, key independent and dependent variables, and the effectiveness of parent education programs designed for behavior interventions targeting individuals with developmental disabilities. In doing this, it seeks to propose recommendations for improving the development and implementation of future parent education programs. To achieve this, 26 articles published in indexed academic journals between 2004 and 2024 were systematically analyzed. The analysis revealed that existing studies on parent education programs for individuals with developmental disabilities primarily used small sample sizes and focused mostly on parents of young children. Additionally, the research designs were often limited in scope. All the programs identified targeted parents of children and adolescents, no studies were found that focused on parents of adults with developmental disabilities. The primary content of parent education programs was predominantly a combination of behavioral approaches and naturalistic interventions (30.8%), followed by applied behavior analysis (19.2%). The main objectives of these programs were to improve the psychological and emotional well-being of parents (52%) and to reduce problematic behaviors in children (47%). The educational effects on parents’ knowledge of behavior analysis were generally positive. However, the impact on reducing parenting stress and improving parenting efficacy yielded limited results in some studies. Similarly, the effectiveness of reducing children’s problematic behaviors yielded mixed outcomes. Identified limitations in previous studies included small sample sizes (24.3%), short-term research designs (10%), limited factor analysis (10%), and inadequate evaluation tools (10%). These findings highlight the need for future research employing larger sample sizes, long-term observations, and sophisticated research designs that incorporate a variety of variables.