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Gindi S, Ben Shabbat-Seri M, Nagar-Shimoni H, Gilat I, Leitner Y. "Breaking the news"-post-autism spectrum disorder diagnosis group intervention for parents to 6-18-year-old children. Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry 2024; 29:1417-1431. [PMID: 39396154 PMCID: PMC11475628 DOI: 10.1177/13591045241263365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/14/2024]
Abstract
This study evaluated the effectiveness of a 3-session group intervention for parents who had received a diagnosis of autism for their child within the past month. The intervention group (N = 41) was compared to Treatment-as-Usual (N = 40): one meeting with a social worker after the diagnosis feedback meeting. Parental stress was evaluated in both groups within a week and then a month after the diagnosis. The findings indicate an increase in the experienced parental stress for the comparison group on all six indices, while in the intervention group there was an increase only on two indices. That is to say, the intervention reduced stress that occurred in the first month after the diagnosis. Further analyses revealed that parent satisfaction with the group intervention was the single most important variable in predicting stress reduction. We argue that parent support groups immediately after their child's diagnosis are effective and important, and probably superior to a single post-diagnosis meeting.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Miri Ben Shabbat-Seri
- Marot Autism Center, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Child Development Institute, Dana-Dwek Children's Hospital, Israel
| | - Hagit Nagar-Shimoni
- Marot Autism Center, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Child Development Institute, Dana-Dwek Children's Hospital, Israel
- Developmental Psychology Department, The Academic College of Law and Business, Israel
| | | | - Yael Leitner
- Marot Autism Center, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Child Development Institute, Dana-Dwek Children's Hospital, Israel
- Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel
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Thompson EL, Gillespie-Smith K, Mair APA, Obsuth I. Exploring Emotional Dysregulation and Avoidance with Caregivers as the Mechanisms Linking Social Communication Understanding and Aggressive Behaviours. J Autism Dev Disord 2024:10.1007/s10803-024-06276-8. [PMID: 38714626 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-024-06276-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/01/2024] [Indexed: 05/10/2024]
Abstract
Many autistic adolescents and young adults present with aggressive behaviours, which can be challenging for caregivers. The present study aimed to explore the underlying mechanisms between social communication understanding and aggressive behaviours in autistic and non-autistic adolescents, specifically the role of emotional dysregulation and its impact on avoidance with caregivers. Caregivers of autistic (n = 275) and non-autistic adolescents (n = 123) completed standardised caregiver-report questionnaires measuring social communication understanding, emotional dysregulation, avoidance between the adolescent and caregiver and aggressive behaviours. A serial mediation analysis indicated that levels of social communication understanding were indirectly associated with aggressive behaviours. This occurred through increased emotional dysregulation, which may have led to increased avoidance between the autistic and non-autistic adolescents and their caregivers. These findings support a sequential process by which adolescents with low social communication understanding are more likely to behave aggressively through being emotionally dysregulated and the impact of this on the increased avoidance within the caregiver-adolescent dyad. This process was found within autistic and non-autistic adolescents, suggesting a mechanism across individuals with aggression. These findings indicate that interventions based on improving emotion regulation ability and responses between adolescents and their caregivers may aid in reducing aggressive behaviours in adolescents and young adults with lower social communication understanding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma Louise Thompson
- School of Health and Social Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9AG, UK.
- Department of Psychological Service & Research, NHS Dumfries & Galloway, Dumfries, DG1 4AP, UK.
| | - Karri Gillespie-Smith
- School of Health and Social Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9AG, UK
| | - Ally Pax Arcari Mair
- School of Health and Social Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9AG, UK
| | - Ingrid Obsuth
- School of Health and Social Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9AG, UK
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Antezana L, Albright J, Scarpa A, Richey JA, Laugeson EA, Factor RS. PEERS® for Preschoolers preliminary outcomes and predictors of treatment response. J Autism Dev Disord 2023; 53:4671-4684. [PMID: 36103076 PMCID: PMC10011023 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-022-05724-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
PEERS® for Preschoolers (P4P) is a social skills group program for young autistic children and their caregivers, which provides everyday tools for interacting and communicating with others. Twenty-two caregiver-child dyads participated and completed pre-treatment, post-treatment, and follow-up measures (4-16 weeks after). Using single-subject analyses to examine social skills, 60% demonstrated post-treatment improvement, and 53.85% demonstrated follow-up improvement. Regarding a secondary outcome of behavioral difficulties, 33.33% demonstrated post-treatment reduction, and 7.69% demonstrated follow-up reduction. Using regressions, autistic traits predicted outcomes; fewer social communication difficulties predicted both greater social skills and fewer behavioral difficulties at post-treatment, while fewer repetitive behaviors predicted fewer post-treatment and follow-up behavioral difficulties. These results preliminarily demonstrate the benefits of P4P and how autistic traits may impact P4P outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ligia Antezana
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, 109 Williams Hall, 890 Drillfield Drive, 24061, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
- Virginia Tech Autism Clinic & Center for Autism Research, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
| | - Jordan Albright
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, 109 Williams Hall, 890 Drillfield Drive, 24061, Blacksburg, VA, USA
- Virginia Tech Autism Clinic & Center for Autism Research, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
- Penn Center for Mental Health, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Angela Scarpa
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, 109 Williams Hall, 890 Drillfield Drive, 24061, Blacksburg, VA, USA
- Virginia Tech Autism Clinic & Center for Autism Research, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - John A Richey
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, 109 Williams Hall, 890 Drillfield Drive, 24061, Blacksburg, VA, USA
- Virginia Tech Autism Clinic & Center for Autism Research, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - Elizabeth A Laugeson
- Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Reina S Factor
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, 109 Williams Hall, 890 Drillfield Drive, 24061, Blacksburg, VA, USA
- Virginia Tech Autism Clinic & Center for Autism Research, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
- Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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Vess SF, Campbell JM. Parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) with families of children with autism spectrum disorder. AUTISM & DEVELOPMENTAL LANGUAGE IMPAIRMENTS 2022; 7:23969415221140707. [PMID: 36506281 PMCID: PMC9726853 DOI: 10.1177/23969415221140707] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS Parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) is an evidence-based behavioral parent training program designed for preschool-age children that emphasizes supporting parent-child interaction patterns to improve child behavior and enhance the quality of parent-child relationships. PCIT has been deemed efficacious in treating children with disruptive behavior disorders, and recent studies have shown promising results utilizing aspects of PCIT with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but none of these studies applied the entire PCIT intervention per manual protocol. The present study is the first to test the efficacy of PCIT, without modification, with families of preschool-age children with ASD without comorbid behavioral difficulties. METHODS This study employed a single-subject multiple-probe design to evaluate the efficacy of PCIT with four families with children with ASD between the ages of 2 and 4 years old (M = 40 months) over a 4-month period. RESULTS PCIT was effective in increasing positive parenting behavior, decreasing negative parenting behavior, and increasing child compliance to parental commands. Parents reported greater confidence in parenting abilities post-treatment and significant improvement in the core areas of autism symptomatology. Parents endorsed significant improvement in aspects of the parent-child relationship, such as attachment and involvement. CONCLUSIONS Parents of children with ASD demonstrated more positive and effective parenting behavior and reported enhancements in the parent-child relationship after participating in PCIT. Children were more compliant to parental commands and exhibited improvements in social and behavioral functioning. Increases in positive parenting behaviors and child compliance to parental requests were maintained 1 month after treatment and outside the clinic setting during generalization sessions. Parents of children with ASD reported a high degree of satisfaction with PCIT. IMPLICATIONS The present study provides initial evidence of the efficacy of utilizing PCIT with families of preschool-age children with ASD and supports the continued investigation of the efficacy of PCIT with this population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah F. Vess
- Sarah F. Vess, Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics, Brenner Children's Hospital, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, Wake Forest School of Medicine, 3325 Silas Creek Parkway, Winston Salem, NC 27103, USA.
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The Effects of Parent Training Programs on the Quality of Life and Stress Levels of Parents Raising a Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Systematic Review of the Literature. REVIEW JOURNAL OF AUTISM AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s40489-019-00190-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
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