Effectiveness of early-intervention programs in German-speaking countries – a meta-analysis

For a systematic review and meta-analysis, three data-bases were searched for publications on controlled studies about the effectiveness of early intervention programs in German-speaking countries. Nine studies being presented in 28 manuscripts were included. In comparison to standard treatment, early intervention programs had a small effect on maternal symptom burden (d=0.20) and a small to zero effect on maternal competencies (d=0.12) at post measurement. High dose programs had higher effects on infantile physical development than low dose programs. Follow-up data from three programs yielded no effects. Low effect sizes may be due to implementation issues and a good standard treatment.