Autism Spectrum Disorder
Conditions
Brief summary
This study is being conducted to look at whether a group programme designed for parents of children with a diagnosis of Autism is effective. The programme is called The START Programme ©- as it aims to provide a Supportive and Therapeutic environment to help parents gain Acceptance and reach Resolution so that they can Take action to live more consistently with their values. The programme was developed by two psychologists in Longford/Westmeath, Ireland, Dr. Michelle Howard and Kara McDermott in 2013, because they identified a lack of therapeutic support for such parents. The programme draws on research and theory from a branch of therapy called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, as well as some other psychological techniques. Individuals who agree to participate in the research will be assigned at random to the intervention or to a treatment as usual control condition. They will be asked to fill out 4 questionnaires, on 3 different occasions, with a 7 week gap between the first time and second time, and a 3 month gap between the second and third time.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALSTART programme
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy based programme for parents of children with Autism
BEHAVIORALTreatment as Usual
Treatment as usual in outpatient within outpatient psychology services
Sponsors
University College Dublin
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Masking description
Participants will generate a Unique Identifier Code which will be used to identify their data across each time point, but will mask their allocation until all of the data is entered and analysed.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Participants must be adults over the age of 18 with the capacity to provide informed consent who are willing to take part in all aspects of the study * They must have at least 1 child with a diagnosed autism spectrum disorder who is linked in with one of the psychology service sites involved in the study. * They must not have completed the START programme before, or be concurrently attending another group based parental intervention.
Exclusion criteria
* Individuals who are under the age of 18, or who unable or unwilling to provide informed consent for all aspects of the study will be not included. * Individuals who are receiving other current group based parental interventions will not be included. * Couples may not attend the programme together, as outlined by the Psychologists who developed the programme.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in psychological flexibility | Measured before first session of programme (Week 1), at the final session of the programme (Week 7), and at 3 month follow up (12 Weeks after Week 7) | Measured using the Comprehensive assessment of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Processes (CompACT) |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Parenting stress | Measured before first session of programme (Week 1), at the final session of the programme (Week 7), and at 3 month follow up (12 Weeks after Week 7) | Measured using The Autism Parenting Stress Index |
| Mental wellbeing | Measured before first session of programme (Week 1), at the final session of the programme (Week 7), and at 3 month follow up (12 Weeks after Week 7) | Measured using The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scales (WEMWBS) |
| Parent relationship | Measured before first session of programme (Week 1), at the final session of the programme (Week 7), and at 3 month follow up (12 Weeks after Week 7) | Parent Problem Checklist (PPC) |
Countries
Ireland
Outcome results
None listed