Studies on training programs for parents of children with autism spectrum disorders have been conducted since the 1960s. Many reviews have also compared different parent training programs. However, only a few of these studies have investigated which independent and dependent variables of parent behavior should be used and how to measure them. In this article, the authors reviewed the studies that examined the effects of parent training programs of the last 20 years, which were based on ABA ; Applied Behavior Analysis. We focused on independent and dependent variables as well as discussed the feasibility of implementing such programs in Japan. All of the studies we reviewed for independent variables used either lectures or feedback or both. Furthermore, most of them were carried out in research institutes (e.g., universities, clinics, or laboratories), and only a few were conducted in a remote location (e.g., participants' home). Most of the studies that we reviewed for dependent variables used outcome measures, and only a few examined learning processes of parents using process measures during the intervention phase. We concluded that the use of new technologies (e.g., Telehealth) could make parent training resources easily available to families with children suffering from autism spectrum disorders. Such resources can be made available at a low cost even to those in remote locations. In addition, by measuring process measures during the intervention phase, we accurately predicted the learning curve of the parents' behaviors, performed more individually optimized and efficient experiments, and identified the relationship between the independent and dependent variables as a causal relationship rather than a correlation relationship.

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