Parent-to-parent support among parents of children with autism: A review of the literature.
Peer-run parent groups are an emerging, low-cost service layer for autism families, especially where professional help is scarce.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team read 25 papers about parent-to-parent support for autism families.
They looked at how moms and dads help other moms and dads.
No new data were collected; they just told the story of what already exists.
What they found
Parent-to-parent groups come in many shapes.
Some are online chats. Others are face-to-face buddy systems.
The review shows these peer models are growing fast, especially where professional help is hard to find.
How this fits with other research
Stewart et al. (2018) meta-analysis found small but real gains when professionals coach parents.
Rana et al. (2024) says peer-run groups may fill the same need when experts are scarce.
Bello-Mojeed et al. (2016) proved a five-session parent class works in Nigeria.
The new review extends that idea: if brief expert training works, trained peer mentors might too.
Matson et al. (2009) reviewed all parent training methods years ago.
The 2024 paper updates that work by spotlighting peer-to-peer models that barely existed in 2009.
Why it matters
You can add parent-to-parent support to your service menu today. Pair new families with veteran parents. Run a monthly peer coffee group. Track stress before and after. This low-cost option may keep families engaged while they wait for intensive ABA.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Parents of autistic children have long reported feelings of isolation and increased stress during and after receiving their child's diagnosis. Increasing global prevalence of autism also calls for increased services and supports to meet the needs of these families, but most parents who live in low-resource settings still report exacerbated barriers. This may indicate the need for diversifying intervention delivery models to increase contextual fit and enhance implementation effects for different populations. For example, many parents have reported parent-to-parent (P2P) model to be a source of emotional support, advocacy, and knowledge related to their child's diagnosis, and practical advice. However, little is known about this topic due to the lack of synthesis of relevant autism literature. To address this gap, we conducted a literature review to gain a deeper understanding of how P2P support is used. We identified 25 studies based on our inclusion and exclusion criteria, which we coded to extract variables such as demographic information of participants, types of P2P, dosage, target outcomes, and social validity. About half of studies focused on providing support groups for parents, and the other half focused on individual matching and mentoring for skill acquisition of parents. Across the included 25 studies, a total of 141 parents participated as parent mentors and 747 parents as parent mentees. We also present implications for future research.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2024 · doi:10.1177/13623613221146444