Behaviour problems in children constitute an important public health issue and the implications of such behaviours are wide-ranging, including problems for families, schools and society in general. Effective interventions for behaviour problems are now required,

To date there has been very little systematic evidence of the effectiveness of treatment programmes for behaviour problems, but 'parent-training programmes' appear to represent a promising intervention.

This chapter reports on a systematic review of the published literature between 1970-1996 on the effectiveness of parent-training programmes in improving behaviour problems in children between the ages of 3-10 years.

Results of this review showed that group-based parent-training programmes are remarkably effective in helping these children

Group behaviour modification programmes appeared to be the most successful in improving behaviour problems and produced the largest effect size.

This review highlights the present paucity of methodologically rigorous research on parent-training programmes and directions for future research are discussed.