"ACT" for Parents of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Mass General Brigham

Status: Completed

Conditions: Stress

Treatments: Behavioral: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02255786

2014P001563

Details and patient eligibility

About

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.

Full 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.

Enrollment: 16 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 65 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

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.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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16 participants in 2 patient groups

ACT Parent Group

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will complete a total of five Acceptance and Commitment Therapy - Parent Group Sessions First four are held weekly, last session held one month from 4th session.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Treatment as Usual

No Intervention group

Description:

Treatment as usual-Control