OTSLPRCTChild: care, health and development2025

Effectiveness of a Parent Empowerment Program for Parents of Children with Autism: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Damla Şahin Büyük, Dilek Özmen

PMID 40751565

WHAT IT FOUND

Parents of children with autism who received training plus motivational interviews reported higher self-efficacy and lower stress than those who did not.

However, their perceived care burden did not significantly decrease. The intervention improved parents' confidence and stress levels but did not reduce the weight of daily caregiving duties.

Key findings

01The intervention group reported significantly higher parental self-efficacy and family empowerment scores compared to the control group at post-test.

02Perceived stress levels were significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group.

03There was no significant difference in caregiver burden between the intervention and control groups, although the effect size suggested a small to moderate trend favoring the intervention.

STILL TO COME

How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs

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What it does not show

The intervention combined parent training and motivational interviews without interim data collection, so the specific contribution of each component cannot be separated. All participants were mothers, which limits generalizability to fathers or other caregivers. The study assessed only short-term outcomes (one month post-intervention), so the sustainability of effects is unknown. All outcomes were based on parent self-reports, which may be subject to bias. The study was conducted in a single urban site in Türkiye during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may affect generalizability and baseline stress levels.

Declared interests

The authors declare no conflicts of interest. No external funding source is mentioned in the text provided.

The easy way to misread this

Do not conclude that this program reduces the overall care burden for parents of children with autism. While it improved self-efficacy and stress, the difference in care burden was not statistically significant.

Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →