Parent training Programs : insight for Practitioners

introduction The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is currently conducting research and analyses to guide practitioners in making evidence-based program decisions. A meta-analysis of the current research literature on training programs for parents with children ages 0 to 7 years old was recently conducted by CDC behavioral scientists. This document presents a summary of their findings. Various parent training programs exist throughout this country. Many of these programs are widely used by child welfare services to improve the parenting practices of families referred for child maltreatment. Approximately 800,000 families receive such training each year (Barth et al. 2005). Despite variations in how they are comprised and delivered, the " components " associated with more effective or less effective parent training programs have rarely been examined. Through meta-analysis, researchers investigated strategies that were currently being used in many types of programs. By analyzing the components of evaluated parent training programs, researchers gained valuable information that could be applied to other such programs. For example, components associated with more effective programs could be integrated into existing ones, thereby minimizing costs, training needs, and other barriers that often discourage the adoption of evidence-based strategies. Similarly, the components associated with less effective programs may be eliminated to minimize the burden on practitioners and families. This meta-analysis does not provide all the answers, but it does impart useful information to practitioners working with families. CDC's continuing goal is to make science more accessible—bridging the traditional gaps between researchers and practitioners—so we can generate discussion within the field and help foster change based on good research. What is a meta-analysis and hoW did this one Work? Meta-analysis allows researchers to examine a body of literature and draw quantitative conclusions about what it says. CDC researchers wanted to look at current parent training programs and their respective evaluations and draw conclusions as to which of their aspects (or components) are associated with better outcomes for children and parents. The meta-analysis process allowed researchers to take many different evaluations and aggregate all of their findings. The researchers began with thousands of peer-reviewed articles published in English from 1990–2002 that evaluated training programs for parents of children ages 0 to 7 years old. After eliminating those that did not meet the inclusion criteria, a resulting pool of 77 evaluations were included in the meta-analysis. Each evaluation was treated like one " case. " Researchers then took the …