The Effectiveness of Adding a Parent Involvement Component to an Existing Center-Based Program for Children with Disabilities and Their Families

Abstract

The belief that parent involvement in early intervention programs increases developmental benefits for children with disabilities and their families is widely accepted. However, very few studies have directly investigated the effects of parent involvement on child and/or family outcomes in a comparative design. For the present study, children in an early intervention program were randomly assigned to either of two groups. One group continued to receive the center- based program, and the other received the center-based program plus a specific parent involvement program. The type of parent involvement most frequently reported in the literature (White,Taylor, & Moss, 1992) was implemented. Weekly parent meetings for 15 weeks focused on teaching parents how to implement intervention at home, provided information on other topics, and facilitated social support. Assessment of child and family functioning took place prior to and immediately after the parent involvement program, as well as longitudinally over a four-year period. No immediate or long-term benefits for the children or their families were found. Findings are compared with findings of other studies. The implications of the findings in evaluating the rationales for this type of parent involvement program are discussed.