The Community Parent Education Program (COPE): treatment effects in a clinical and a community-based sample

Abstract

The present study is the first European evaluation of the Canadian parent training programme called Community Parent Education Program (COPE). In addition, it is the first to examine the effects of the COPE programme in different types of clinical and nonclinical samples. The main findings were that COPE was found to be effective in reducing conduct problems, hyperactivity/impulsivity, daily problem behaviours, parental stress, and lack of perceived parental control. However, the programme was not effective in reducing inattention, social competence deficits, or peer problems. Interestingly, the significant group effects were a result of significant differences between the two nonclinical intervention groups and the waiting-list control group, whereas the clinical intervention group did not differ significantly from the control group with regard to either child or parental variables. This points to the importance of evaluating parent training programmes in groups with different levels of severity so that parents are offered the type of training programme most suitable for their child's needs.