Parent mental health and positive functioning
autistic, depression, chronic stressors, disabilities
The most consistent treatment effect was seen for parent depression. These findings align with previous studies of ACT for parents of autistic people (Conversely, no significant differences between groups for stress were reported. Parents of autistic children can experience chronic stressors, including high levels of mental health problems in their autistic youth (e.g. Parents who participated in ACT had greater increases in positive affect compared to the Waitlist group at Time 2, though the effect was small and dissipated by Time 3. The link between positive affect and perceived social support in parents of children with disabilities has been repeatedly demonstrated (Goal attainment, similarly, showed a large group difference at Time 2, which was no longer apparent at Time 3. At Time 2, the Treatment group was six times more likely to report achieving or exceeding one of their goals, with 82% of the Treatment parents and only 43% of the Waitlist parents indicating goal achievement. Recent research on goal attainment indicates that ongoing progress is most likely when goals are set just slightly out of reach, balancing challenge while preventing discouragement (