This research will aim to test how practical, achievable and effective a brief, guided, self-help compassion focused intervention is for parents of autistic children aged 6-17 years old.
The demands of parenting can be rewarding but also challenging, and it is known that parents of autistic children experience additional pressures. As a result of this, parents of autistic children may be more likely to experience increased stress, anxiety, low mood and lower quality of life, compared to those parenting children who are not autistic.
There has been only a small amount of research so far regarding whether interventions that focus on building compassion, would be beneficial to parents of autistic children. The purpose of this study is to test whether a short, self-guided compassion-focused intervention is practical, achievable and effective for parents of autistic children. The intervention is based on Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) and involves reading workbook material and listening to audio tracks. There will also be some questionnaires to complete and 30-minute weekly support calls with the lead researcher.
This intervention was adapted previously, from an intervention for parents in general, to be more suitable and focused on the needs of parents of autistic children. This study will be the first time the adapted intervention has been used by parents.
The intervention will be tested by 6-8 parents and will be about 13 weeks long. We will collect some demographic data at the start of the study, and there will be the opportunity to complete an evaluation questionnaire.
Participants must be a parent who lives with their autistic child. The parent must be aged 18 years and above and their child must be aged between 6 and 17 years old. The parent participant must have good use of the English language to provide informed consent, access the workbook material, listen to the audio tracks, engage verbally in the support telephone calls and change interviews and complete outcome measures. The child must have a formal diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder as confirmed following assessment by a doctor or practitioner psychologist. Participants must be technology-literate and have access to technology to access video calls for screening and check-in calls as needed.
Those who are currently receiving psychological or mental health input from professionals, those experiencing thoughts related to self-harm and/or suicide and those who are dependent on alcohol or drugs, those with a learning disability or other cognitive impairment will be excluded from this research.
Single group
Guided, self-help compassion-focused intervention for parents of autistic children
Other interventionThe intervention is a 6-week guided self-help compassion focused therapy (CFT) intervention for parents of autistic children. There will also be pre and post-intervention testing which will take the total duration time to 13 weeks. The intervention will involve parents of autistic children working through an adapted compassion-focused workbook (Kemp et al, 2024), as a 6-week intervention where it is advised that parents read one chapter per-week and practice the associated exercises at least once per day. The workbook was adapted collaboratively using focus groups with stakeholders. It is estimated that these exercises should take 10-15 minutes daily. Participants will have access to audio tracks and written scripts of the exercises. Participants can use the audio tracks as often as they wish. Participants will be sent one section of the workbook at a time, each week via email. They will also receive planned, weekly support calls (30 minutes approximately).
Parental Stress Scale
The Parental Stress Scale will be administered at all weeks of the study. This will be administered electronically during weekly support calls. This is a validated self-report measure of stress associated with the parenting role.
State Self-Compassion Stress Scale
The State Self-Compassion Stress Scale will be administered at all weeks of the study. This will be administered electronically during weekly support calls. This measure looks at momentary levels of self-compassion in response to their current experiences.
Compassion Engagement and Action Scales
The Compassion Engagement and Action Scales will be administered at three points during the study. This will be administered electronically during weekly support calls. This measure looks at participants' engagement with and enactment of compassion.
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University of Nottingham
Lead sponsor
University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust
Collaborator
Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Collaborator
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