Effectiveness of the Stepping Stones Triple P Group Parenting Program as an Additional Intervention in the Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders: Effects on Parenting Variables.
Eight weekly Stepping Stones Triple P group sessions quickly cut harsh parenting and stress while lifting confidence in parents of children with autism.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Schrott et al. (2019) ran a Stepping Stones Triple P group for parents of children with autism. They met for eight weekly sessions after a short wait-list.
Parents filled out surveys on parenting style, stress, and confidence before and after the course. No control group was used.
What they found
Over-reactive discipline, role restriction, and parenting stress all dropped. Parents felt more confident in managing behavior.
Effect sizes were medium to large, showing the change was meaningful, not just a blip.
How this fits with other research
Byers et al. (2013) first showed the same program helped parents in a small case study. Bastian’s 2019 group design backs up those early hints with more families.
Estes et al. (2014) tested a different program, P-ESDM, and found stress stayed flat while community services let stress rise. Bastian saw stress actually fall, suggesting SSTP may give an extra boost beyond simply stopping the climb.
Austin et al. (2015) used five home video sessions and also lifted parent self-efficacy. Bastian got similar gains after eight group talks, showing both brief and group formats can work.
Why it matters
You can add Stepping Stones Triple P as a short group module right after diagnosis. Parents leave calmer, more confident, and less likely to yell or feel trapped. That smoother home climate can make your later child-focused sessions easier and faster.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often are faced with the challenges of difficult parenting situations. We explored the effectiveness of the Stepping Stones Triple P (SSTP) group parent training as an additional intervention in the treatment of ASD. Parents (n = 23) went through a waiting period and participated afterwards in the training program. We assessed parenting variables via self-report measures. After the intervention, there was a significant reduction of over-reactive parenting behaviors, role restriction and an increase in parental self-efficacy. At follow-up, the effects remained stable and we additionally found a reduction of laxness and less parenting stress. Effect sizes were high (η2: 0.18-0.24). The SSTP, offered as an additional intervention in the treatment of ASD, proved to be effective in enhancing parenting.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2019 · doi:10.1007/s10803-018-3764-x