Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) - Parent Group Training for Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Qualitative Study on Perspectives of Parents.
Manon W P de Korte, Shireen P T Kaijadoe, Jan K Buitelaar and 2 others
PMID 35083605WHAT IT FOUND
Parents described PRT group training as intensive but worthwhile.
They valued sharing experiences with other parents and seeing therapists model techniques. Video recording helped them see their own patterns but caused initial discomfort. Perceived child communication improved, though this was not measured against a control.
Key findings
01Parents valued the parent group format for sharing experiences and recognizing that other families faced similar struggles, which provided reassurance.
02Video recording and reviewing parent-child interactions was a key facilitator for gaining insight into behavior and communication patterns, but parents initially felt uncomfortable and vulnerable.
03Parents perceived improvements in their children's social-communication skills and overall well-being, but the study did not measure these outcomes quantitatively against a control group.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study reports parental perceptions and experiences, not measured clinical outcomes or treatment efficacy. The sample was small (12 families in the main analysis) and consisted primarily of mothers, with all children being male. Data collection was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with some interviews conducted remotely, which may have limited observation of nonverbal cues. One of the researchers was also a PRT therapist involved in the study, which introduces potential bias despite steps taken to mitigate it. The perceived effects reported by parents were inconsistent with the null findings for social-communication skills in a related quantitative analysis of the same intervention.
Declared interests
The study was funded by Karakter child and adolescent psychiatry centre. One of the interviewers was a PRT therapist and researcher involved in the quantitative study of the intervention.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the parents' reports of improved child communication as evidence that the PRT-PG program is effective. The study did not include a control group or measure outcomes quantitatively, and the authors explicitly note that these perceived improvements were inconsistent with the null results found in a related quantitative study of the same intervention.