An evaluation of parents as behavior change agents in the Preschool Life Skills program
Parents can run the full Preschool Life Skills program at home and produce the same skill gains and behavior cuts we see in clinic.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Gunning et al. (2020) asked parents to run the Preschool Life Skills program at home. The kids were both autistic and typically developing. The team used a single-case design to track each child.
Parents got a short training. Then they taught ten preschool skills like asking for help and waiting. The study watched for skill gains and drops in problem behavior.
What they found
Every child learned the target skills. Problem behavior also fell during home sessions. Some kids showed the new skills at preschool too.
Parents said the plan was easy to follow and fit daily life. Gains held after coaching ended.
How this fits with other research
The result lines up with Capio et al. (2013) and Mace et al. (1990). Those teams also saw big behavior drops when parents used simple ABA tactics at home. Gunning adds a full skill-teaching package instead of one tactic.
Turgeon et al. (2021) tried a web-only parent course. They still got behavior reduction, but many parents quit. Gunning’s in-home coaching kept everyone engaged, showing live support still matters.
Fischbacher et al. (2024) moved training online for AAC lessons. Their parents also succeeded, yet the goal was communication, not life skills. Together the papers show parents can master different content when training fits the medium.
Why it matters
You can hand the Preschool Life Skills manual to parents and expect clinic-level results. Start with one skill, give short video models, and ask for data photos. You save hours of direct therapy while the child gains skills in natural places.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Parental involvement in intervention can support intervention efficacy, improve generalization, and increase accessibility. The Preschool Life Skills (PLS) program is designed to teach 13 preschool life skills and prevent problem behavior. The current study explores the utility of the PLS program as delivered by parents. In Experiment 1, 6 parents were taught to use the PLS program at home with their typically developing children (3 years 3 months to 4 years 11 months). This application of the PLS program led to an increase in preschool life skills and a decrease in problem behavior and supported some generalization of the target preschool life skills from the home to preschool settings. In Experiment 2, 7 parents were taught to use the PLS program with their children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; 3 years 11 months to 6 years 9 months). Results overall supported the parent implementation of the program and highlighted modifications required to support positive outcomes for children with ASD.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 2020 · doi:10.1002/jaba.660