Lay abstract
autistic, depression, autistic childrenAcceptance
CEREBRAL PALSY
Emerging research shows that Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) may improve mental health for caregivers. Parents of autistic children, adolescents, and adults (Parents of autistic children commonly experience difficulties with their own mental health. This study looked at the effects of a brief group-based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy program, developed for parents of autistic children, youth, and adults. ACT focuses on increasing psychological flexibility, which is the ability to be mindful and accepting of difficult thoughts and experiences, shown to be important for mental wellness. Participants included 54 parents of autistic people, ages 3–34. Parents were randomly divided into two groups: a Treatment group that received the intervention right away, and a Waitlist group that completed the program after the Treatment group completed the trial. All parents filled out questionnaires right before the program began, and at 3, 7, and 17 weeks after randomization. Compared to the group that was waiting to participate in the program, parents in the Treatment group reported greater improvements in depression and family distress, and these improvements were still present 4 months later. Parents in the Treatment group also reported short-term improvements in their positive feelings and personal goals, compared to those waiting. Results showed that ACT may help improve some aspects of mental health for parents of autistic children, but further research is recommended.Parents of autistic childrenAcceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has emerged as an intervention with a strong evidence base supporting its use for caregivers (There is a growing literature demonstrating the effectiveness of ACT among parents of autistic children. In the first published study of ACT for parents of autistic children, In India, In a study with a slightly larger sample, One of the only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of ACT for parents focused on parents of children with cerebral palsy, where researchers added a 4 h ACT training for parents who were already receiving a parenting intervention, compared to a randomly assigned waitlist control group and a parent training only group. The addition of ACT training resulted in improved parent reports of child quality of life and reduced parental depression and stress, compared to the waitlist group (ACT has yet to be evaluated in parents of autistic children using both a randomized controlled design and a large enough sample to increase generalizability to the larger population of parents of autistic children. Further, while there is evidence that in families of autistic children, parent-focused interventions can also serve to improve child behavior and mental health (