Effects of parent management training programs on disruptive behavior for children with a developmental disability: a meta-analysis.

Sparaci et al. (2015) pooled 11 smaller studies on parent management training. All kids had a developmental disability and showed disruptive behavior like hitting or yelling.

The team used meta-analysis to find one clear effect size across the studies.

Training parents cut disruptive behavior, but the drop was small. The effect size was 0.39, a reliable yet modest gain.

In plain words, expect visible but not dramatic change.

Burrell et al. (2025) looked only at kids with autism and found a medium effect on the same behaviors. Their number was bigger, but the two results line up: both show parent training helps.

Breider et al. (2024) tested face-to-face sessions versus a blended online format. Face-to-face won; blended did nothing. This RCT reminds us that how you deliver the training matters as much as the program itself.

Lee et al. (2012) ran a parallel meta-analysis on kids with ADHD. They also saw a moderate child benefit plus a large boost in parenting skills. The pattern is similar across diagnoses: small to medium child gains, big parent gains.

You can keep recommending parent management training for families of children with developmental disabilities, but set the expectation upfront: behavior will improve a little, not a lot. Use face-to-face coaching when possible, and borrow the extra parenting-skill modules that shine in ADHD work. Track data session-by-session so parents see the small gains add up.