BACKGROUND: Indirect speech and language therapy, such as parent-implemented intervention, has been shown to be an effective approach for young children with speech and language disorders. However, relatively few studies have compared outcomes of parent-directed therapy with child-directed intervention, that is, individual therapy of a child delivered by a speech and language therapist (SLT). Although speech and language therapists (SLTs) regard parental engagement as imperative for successful intervention, currently they predominantly use child-directed intervention. AIM: To evaluate the effect of parent- versus child-directed speech-language therapy embedded in usual care intervention for young children with developmental language disorder (DLD). METHODS & PROCEDURES: In a randomized trial, forty-six 3-year-old monolingual children with DLD were assigned to parent-directed intervention or child-directed intervention groups. In addition, all children received usual care in special-language daycare centres. Outcomes included children's language development and functional communication, parents' language output, parents' perceptions and their self-efficacy. These were assessed at three time intervals, that is, at baseline, immediately after 6 months of treatment, and 1 year after baseline. The parent-directed intervention consisted of twelve 50-min sessions every 2 weeks with parent and child, consisting of parental training with immediate feedback by (SLTs. Children in the child-directed intervention group received individual speech-language therapy in weekly 30-min sessions for 6 months. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: Intervention in both groups was equally effective. All children improved significantly in receptive and expressive language measures as well as in functional communication at all intervals. All parents used significantly more language support strategies and were less concerned about their child's participation in communication. Parents in the parent-directed intervention group reported increased ...