Feasibility of an empirically based program for parents of preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder.
The Incredible Years parent course is practical for preschoolers with autism and sets the stage for larger trials.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Dababnah et al. (2016) ran a 15-week pilot of The Incredible Years parent course.
Seventeen parents of preschoolers with autism joined the group sessions.
Staff tracked whether leaders taught the lessons as written and asked parents what they thought.
What they found
Parents kept coming and leaders followed the manual.
Moms and dads liked the emotion-coaching, child-play, and stress-management parts best.
The team said the program is doable for families of young children with autism.
How this fits with other research
Granieri et al. (2020) later ran a stronger, randomized test of the same program.
They also saw high fidelity and happy parents, showing the 2016 result holds up.
Burrell et al. (2025) pooled nine trials and found parent-training cuts disruptive behavior and lowers stress, backing the benefits parents reported.
Martin et al. (2023) showed the idea even works over Zoom, so you are not tied to a clinic room.
Why it matters
You can offer The Incredible Years to families right now without waiting for more proof.
Use the emotion-coaching and play lessons first; parents value them most.
If transport or time is tight, run the course online—telehealth keeps the same high fidelity.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This article reports on the feasibility of implementing an existing empirically based program, The Incredible Years, tailored to parents of young children with autism spectrum disorder. Parents raising preschool-aged children (aged 3-6 years) with autism spectrum disorder (N = 17) participated in a 15-week pilot trial of the intervention. Quantitative assessments of the program revealed fidelity was generally maintained, with the exception of program-specific videos. Qualitative data from individual post-intervention interviews reported parents benefited most from child emotion regulation strategies, play-based child behavior skills, parent stress management, social support, and visual resources. More work is needed to further refine the program to address parent self-care, partner relationships, and the diverse behavioral and communication challenges of children across the autism spectrum. Furthermore, parent access and retention could potentially be increased by providing in-home childcare vouchers and a range of times and locations in which to offer the program. The findings suggest The Incredible Years is a feasible intervention for parents seeking additional support for child- and family-related challenges and offers guidance to those communities currently using The Incredible Years or other related parenting programs with families of children with autism spectrum disorder.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2016 · doi:10.1177/1362361314568900