Rationale: Parents with intellectual disabilities, autism or adhd, often referred to as intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) are entitled to effective parenting support, but few programmes are adapted to their cognitive needs. Parenting Young Children (PYC) was developed for parents with IDDs. PYC is home-based, focused on skills-training, grounded in established behavioural teaching principles and emphasizes collaborative, inclusive goal-setting together with the parents. PYC is perceived as beneficial by parents and practitioners and quantitative evaluations are needed.
Objective: To evaluate PYC for improved parenting among Swedish parents with IDDs in need of parenting support.
Methods: The study used a multi-centre, pre-test (T1) – post-test (T2) design with a six-month follow-up (T3), with parents of children aged 0–9. Goal-attainment in parenting skills was measured with the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) Parents and PYC practitioners rated performance (1-10) for each skill, and parents also rated their satisfaction (1-10). Secondary outcomes were parental self-efficacy and child psychosocial adaptation.
Results / Practice Implications: Preliminary results, involving 20 parental goals, show a clinically significant improvement from T1 (M = 5.0) to T2 (M = 7.8), and maintenance at T3 (M =7.83). Further results will be presented at the conference.
Conclusion:
This study shows that parents with IDDs can improve their parenting skills by participating in practical, person-centered, step-by-step training with support from a professional. Increasing parenting skills can enable parents with IDDs to fulfil their parenting role and thereby exercise their rights as individuals while securing the needs of their children.