level 4 triple-p positive parenting program and the interaction of parent-child with special needs: a meta-analytic study in iran

Background: since positive parenting program (triple-p) is one of the ways to improve parent-child interaction, conducting a meta-analysis will help determine its effect size. this study aimed to use meta-analysis to examine the effect of level 4 triple-p on parent-child interaction with special needs in iran. methods: the current study is a meta-analysis review study. before analyzing the effect size of the mean differences, the prisma (preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses) method was used to investigate the decision tree model. then, the effect size of triple-p was investigated using the meta-analysis method. twelve studies (out of the 37) were collected with the keywords “triple-p” and “parent-child interaction” from google scholar, irandoc, iranmedex, magiran, and sid according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. they were conducted in iran during 2012-2021 and were analyzed through meta-analysis. the inclusion criteria of the articles included written in persian, having a control group, being interventional, and using original data. the exclusion criteria included duplicate articles and non-compliance with the title with triple-p level 4. the study instrument was a meta-analysis checklist. funnel plot, fail-safe number, and cochran q test were used to assess the publication bias, expected confidence, and effect size heterogeneity, respectively. the obtained data were analyzed by comprehensive meta-analysis (cma) software. results: findings showed that the effect size of the mean difference rate of level 4 triple-p on parent-child interaction was 0.59 (p<0.0001), which is medium according to the cohen table. fisher’s z indicated a low standard error and no publication bias. the value of the q test is significant, and the effect sizes are heterogeneous (p<0.0001).conclusion: given the moderate impact of level 4 triple-p, this method of parenting program can play an important role in improving the interaction of parent-child with special needs.