The Effect of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Improving Psychological Well-Being in Parents of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Flavia Marino,Gennaro Tartarisco,David Vagni,Loris Pignolo,Antonio Cerasa,Antonino A Arnao,Alfio Puglisi,Liliana Ruta,Francesca Pergolizzi,Paolo Moderato,Giovambattista Presti,Roberta Minutoli,Chiara Failla,Giovanni Pioggia,Paola Chilà

doi:10.3390/brainsci11070880

Abstract

Background: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has been demonstrated as effective in improving psychological well-being in several clinical domains, but there is no evidence regarding the parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Methods: In this randomized controlled trial, we evaluated the efficacy of the ACT matrix behavioral protocol in comparison to the Parent Training (PT) program, measuring several primary and secondary outcomes prior to and following treatments. Twelve parents were randomly and equally assigned to two demographically matched groups wherein individuals underwent 24 weekly meetings of ACT protocol (experimental group) or conventional PT (control group). Results: Parents enrolled in the ACT protocol demonstrated significant improvement in psychological flexibility, awareness states, personal values in everyday life, and parental stress, whereas reduced scores were elicited in parents’ perceptions of their child’s disruptive behaviors. Conclusions: The results of this randomized controlled trial, if repeated with a large number of subjects, could open the way to include ACT protocols in daily practice to support the development of new parenting skills.

Highlights

IntroductionThe chronic stress experienced by parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is reported to be greater than those experienced by parents of children with other disabilities, such as Down Syndrome, behavioral disorders, and Fragile X Syndrome [7,10,11], and is associated with increased divorce rates [12,13]
The present single-blind Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) aims to investigate the efficacy of the ACT approach in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) parents compared to Parent Training (PT) for the first time
After the intervention, we found a significant improvement in the matrix group (TG) on AAQ-II, U = 400, W = 610, Z = 5.42, p < 0.001 (Figure 3; Table 2), with a gain of 64% in the total score, and all parents in the group improved between 16 and 32 points (Table 3)

Summary

Introduction

The chronic stress experienced by parents of children with ASD is reported to be greater than those experienced by parents of children with other disabilities, such as Down Syndrome, behavioral disorders, and Fragile X Syndrome [7,10,11], and is associated with increased divorce rates [12,13]. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has been demonstrated as effective in improving psychological well-being in several clinical domains, but there is no evidence regarding the parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Results: Parents enrolled in the ACT protocol demonstrated significant improvement in psychological flexibility, awareness states, personal values in everyday life, and parental stress, whereas reduced scores were elicited in parents’ perceptions of their child’s disruptive behaviors. Conclusions: The results of this randomized controlled trial, if repeated with a large number of subjects, could open the way to include ACT protocols in daily practice to support the development of new parenting skills.

Methods

Results

Conclusion