Les programmes d’accompagnement auprès de groupes de parents d’enfants présentant un trouble du spectre de l’autisme, ce que la recherche nous en dit

Abstract

ObjectivesHaving a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) presents significant challenges for parents. In recent years, several intervention programs have been developed for these parents. Most of these programs aim to train parents in parent-mediated intervention for their child. Less common are the programs aiming to support the parent in his parenting role. The purpose of this article is to identify and analyze the different published studies focussing on the evaluation of the effects of the latter type of programs, in a group setting. MethodsA systematic literature search was conducted in five databases to retrieve studies published in the years 2000 to 2017. Ten studies were selected and their content was analyzed to describe the content and form of parenting programs as well as their reported effects on parents who participated. ResultsWe found that there was a great heterogeneity in the form of programs (duration, frequency, intensity). The content of these programs mainly addresses the characteristics of ASD, child intervention strategies and intervention strategies aimed at parental adjustment. The majority of studies adopted a one-group pretest-posttest design. A control group was used in only four studies. The majority of single-group studies reported statistically significant positive effects for parents, among which decreased parental stress. Results are less clear when a control group was used. Two out of four studies did not report significant differences between parents who participated in the programs and those in the control groups. There is a trend, however, that studies examining programs with both child-focused and parent-focused strategies show greater consistency in their results, reporting positive outcomes for parents. ConclusionThe specific effects of such programs remain generally difficult to demonstrate. The contribution of the group setting is only very rarely addressed in these studies. More comprehensive research is still needed to conclusively determine the necessary components to ensure the effectiveness of such programs.