Adapting Webster-Stratton's incredible years parent training for children with developmental delay: findings from a treatment group only study

Background Children with intellectual or developmental disabilities (ID/DD) are more likely than typically developing children to experience behaviour problems. Parent training, such as the Incredible Years Parent Training (IYPT) series, has been a widely used intervention to support families with children with or at‐risk for behaviour problems; yet to date, this programme has not been used with parents with young children with developmental delay or disabilities. Method This preliminary treatment group only study assessed the feasibility of implementing a modified parent training programme (IYPT‐DD) with 25 families with 2–5‐year‐old children with developmental delay. Intervention consisted of 12 weekly (2.5 h) sessions with topics covering developmentally appropriate play, praise, rewards, limit setting and handling challenging behaviour. Results Results suggest preliminary evidence of efficacy in reducing negative parent and child behaviour and increasing parental perceptions of child positive impact. Conclusions This study provides evidence for the feasibility of the DD modifications applied to the IYPT. Although this approach is promising, additional evidence is needed to address the efficacy of IYPT‐DD in children with developmental delay.