The family-focused early intervention programme: Evaluation of parental stress and depression

Abstract

The present study aims to assess the parental outcomes of an early intervention programme, designed to enhance the development of children zero to four years old with developmental disabilities through parental training. The parents of children with developmental disabilities who participated in the study (mothers, n = 29; fathers, n = 28) attended an early intervention programme lasting eight months in the Turkish city of Ankara. Two dimensions of parental outcomes were stress and depression levels, which were assessed on a pre-test and post-test basis using the Questionnaire on Resources and Stress-F (QRS-F) and the Beck Depression Inventory). The findings demonstrated no significant change in mothers' stress scores while fathers' stress scores decreased on a subdimension of the QRS-F named 'child's characteristics'. Additionally, it is found that the depression levels of both parents decreased after the implementation of the programme. Implications are drawn from the findings for future research on parental stress, depression and for the development of the family-focused early intervention practices. © 2006 Taylor & Francis.