How effective are group-based psychoeducation programs for parents of children with ASD in Turkey? A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Group psychoeducation for Turkish autism parents reliably cuts distress and lifts well-being when you run at least eight active sessions.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Ağırkan et al. (2023) pooled every Turkish trial that put parents of children with autism into group classes. They wanted to know if these psychoeducation groups really lower parent stress and lift child skills.
The team ran a meta-analysis. They combined results from many small studies to get one clearer picture.
What they found
Group psychoeducation gave parents a medium-sized drop in anxiety and depression. It gave them a large boost in well-being. Child social skills improved, but only a little.
Programs worked best when parents joined actively and when classes ran for at least eight sessions.
How this fits with other research
Hong et al. (2021) ran peer-led groups for South-Asian parents and saw the same mood lift. This backs the idea that group support itself is the active piece, not the trainer’s title.
Manohar et al. (2019) used only five home visits in India and still cut parent stress. Fewer sessions can work when you coach one family at a time, but groups may give added peer support.
Leung et al. (2016) showed medium child and parent gains with a Chinese parent-education class, matching the Turkish numbers. Taken together, brief group classes keep working across cultures.
Why it matters
If you serve Turkish families, you can now point to solid local evidence: eight-or-more-session parent groups are worth funding. Even if you are not in Turkey, the pattern is clear—group parent education travels well. Start a closed WhatsApp group after session one so the peer support keeps going between meetings.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Recent research shows that group-based psychoeducation programs designed for parents of children with ASD have grown in popularity over time. The international evidence for the effectiveness of psychoeducation programs designed for parents of children with ASD in developed societies emphasizes the importance of providing a synthesis of the effectiveness of programs in developing societies. This study's primary aim is to assess the efficacy of group-based psychoeducation programs in Turkey for parents of children with ASD. The second aim is to investigate how the programs are influenced by the potential moderators (type of involvement, research design, number of sessions, duration of sessions, and number of participants). For these purposes, a database search was conducted that included group-based psychoeducation programs for parents of children with ASD implemented in Turkey. Twelve group-based psychoeducation programs that met the inclusion criteria were included in the study. The results showed that group-based psychoeducation programs for parents of children with ASD had "medium" effects on psychological symptoms [ES(SE) = 0.65 (.08), 95%CI (0.48-0.81)], "low" effects on social skills [ES(SE) = 0.32 (.16), 95%CI (0.02-0.62)], and "high" effects on well-being [ES(SE) = 1.05 (.19), 95%CI (0.66-1.43)]. According to moderator analyses, the type of involvement and the number of sessions were statistically significant moderators of psychological symptoms, but not the research design, duration of sessions, or number of participants.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2023 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2023.104554