Effectiveness of Distance Educational Programs for parents of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder: an integrative review.
Jullie Gottschall Lima Andrade, Andreia Cristina Feitosa do Carmo, Ana Carina Tamanaha and 1 others
PMID 39230180WHAT IT FOUND
Parent education programs using distance delivery reported gains in communication, routines, and behavior for children with autism, but evidence came from six small, mixed studies.
Treat this as promising, not proven.
Key findings
01Six studies were included, with samples ranging from 3 to 104 parents, and the designs included single-case studies and a randomized controlled trial.
02The review reported positive impacts on children's development, including gains in communication, daily routines, and reduced problem or inflexible behaviors.
03Most experimental studies combined synchronous and asynchronous delivery, and the parent training phase was often asynchronous.
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 review included only six studies, and samples ranged from 3 to 104 parents, so the evidence base is small. The included studies were heterogeneous, including single-case designs and a randomized controlled trial, and the review summarized them descriptively rather than pooling results. Several programs combined face-to-face and online delivery, so the effect of the distance component alone cannot be separated. The review did not clearly link socioeconomic profile to program retention, and one dropout was due to technology issues. Many studies did not report family profiles or participation time, so it is hard to know which families are most likely to benefit. The search was conducted in December 2021, so studies published after that date are not included.
Declared interests
The funding and conflicts section states nothing to declare.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that distance parent training is proven effective for every child with autism. The review included six small, heterogeneous studies, some with single families and mixed face-to-face plus online delivery, so the remote component alone was not isolated.