Peer-reviewed article
The perceived utility, acceptability, and impact of Early Positive Approaches to Support (E-PAtS) in routine services for families of young children with developmental disabilities.
Rivard M, Boulé M, Mello C, Hastings R, Abouzeid N et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study evaluated a group-based support program called E-PAtS designed for parents of young children with developmental disabilities. Researchers interviewed parents to understand whether the program's goals matched what families needed, whether they found it acceptable, and what effects they experienced. Parents reported that the program helped them learn practical strategies, navigate services better, and improve their child's behavior. The findings suggest that family-centered support programs like E-PAtS can prepare families for more intensive interventions later.
Key points
- Strong alignment between parents' reasons for joining, program goals, and reported outcomes
- Parents identified five key benefits: learning about disability and strategies, accessing services, group discussions, self-care development, and co-facilitation
- Parents reported improvements in child behavior and increased capacity to navigate services
- Program positioned as complementary early support before more intensive interventions
- Findings emphasize importance of socially valid, family-centered approaches
Limitations
The study relied on parent perceptions only and did not include objective measures of child development or comparison with families receiving no intervention. We cannot determine whether observed improvements were due to E-PAtS or other factors.
Abstract
Objectives To examine the social validity of the Early Positive Approaches to Support (E-PAtS) program. E-PAtS is a group-based psychoeducational and support intervention designed for parents of children with developmental disabilities (DD) in the early stages of their service trajectory. Methods We used semi-structured interviews and post-session measures to explore parents' perceptions of the adequacy program's goals, acceptability of its procedures, and its perceived effects. Results Findings indicated strong alignment between parents' motivations for participation, program goals, and perceived outcomes across family members. Thematic analysis identified five features supporting the social validity of E-PAtS: 1) learning about DD and practical strategies, 2) accessing and navigating services, 3) engaging in group discussions, 4) developing self-care practices, and 5) experiencing co-facilitation. Parents also reported improvements in child behavior and an increased capacity to navigate services and identify needs. Conclusions These findings underscore the importance of socially valid, family-centered approaches. They also position E-PAtS as a complementary early support to enhance readiness for subsequent interventions, and support its integration within a continuum of services for families of children with DD.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Early Positive Approaches to Support (E-PAtS), a group-based psychoeducational and support program for parents of children with developmental disabilities
- Population
- Parents of young children with developmental disabilities in early stages of service use
Key finding
Strong alignment between parents' motivations, program goals, and perceived outcomes