Stress
Conditions
Keywords
Group Therapy, Parents, Autism, Quality of Life
Brief summary
The investigators will develop and pilot test an intervention called ACT for Parents which aims to decrease stress and improve quality of life in parents of children \< 15 years who have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. A small randomized trial testing phase will be conducted to gather initial data on the treatment feasibility and acceptability, detect treatment effects between groups (ACT for Parents versus Treatment as Usual), and to refine the treatment design for a future clinical trial.
Detailed description
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an intervention that fosters acceptance of uncomfortable thoughts and emotions as a coping strategy, and encourages engagement in valued behavior in the presence of these emotions. ACT has been successfully applied to parents with similar mental health presentations. Using a randomized controlled study design, investigators seek to gather initial data on the treatment feasibility and acceptability, detect treatment effects in a cohort of parents who have a child (under the age of 15) with autism spectrum disorder.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALAcceptance and Commitment Therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an intervention that fosters acceptance of uncomfortable thoughts and emotions as a coping strategy, and encourages engagement in valued behavior in the presence of these emotions. ACT has been successfully applied to parents of children with a variety of mental health presentations.
Sponsors
Organization for Autism Research
Massachusetts General Hospital
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* A parent with a child (under the age of 15) with a diagnosis of Pervasive Developmental Disorder-NOS, Asperger's Disorder or Autistic Disorder * Child with ASD diagnosed by a mental health or medical professional * Must be comfortable speaking and reading and understanding English
Exclusion criteria
* Inability to attend sessions in person on the specified date/time/location of the intervention sessions * unwillingness to be audio-taped should randomization into the experimental (ACT) group occur.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II Score | From Basline to Month 2 (post-intervention) and from Month 2 to Month 3 (maintenance) | The Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ-II, Bond et al., 2011) is a 10-item Likert scale that measures experiential acceptance (i.e., tendency to accept, rather than avoid, uncomfortable internal experiences) in adult samples. |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed