Improving Family Functioning Following Diagnosis of ASD: A Randomized Trial of a Parent Mentorship Program

Publication Date

2-15-2019

Document Type

Article

Organizational Units

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Psychology

Keywords

Quality of life, Satisfaction with care, Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Parent to parent (P2P) mentorship

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is known to impact family functioning and decrease family quality of life. Unfortunately, many parents of children with ASD are left to coordinate their child’s care with little ongoing support or education. There is a growing interest in parent-to-parent (P2P) programs to provide family supports with the goal of improving family outcomes. This study investigates a P2P program for families of children newly diagnosed with ASD that combines (1) family-centered action planning, (2) education on accessing complex systems of care, and (3) ongoing mentorship by a trained Parent Mentor for six months. In a randomized controlled trial, the intervention was given to a group of parents (N = 33) and compared to a waitlist group (N = 34). The intervention consisted of development of an individualized action plan and training on navigating service systems immediately after entry into the program, followed by monthly check-ins by a trained parent mentor for six months. An intent-to-treat analysis examined the impact of CPM on family quality of life, family functioning, service utilization, and program acceptability and satisfaction. The intervention improved satisfaction with disability-related services and prevented rigidity in family functioning. Services used outside of school increased for both groups but did not meet the national recommendation. Participants described the program as highly acceptable and indicated that it improved their emotional wellbeing. The CPM program may be a useful tool for helping families cope with their child’s ASD; although, additional research is needed to confirm these effects.

Copyright Date

11-22-2018

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature. User is responsible for all copyright compliance. This article was originally published as:

Moody, E. J., Kaiser, K., Sharp, D., Kubicek, L. F., Rigles, B., Davis, J., . . . & Rosenberg, C. R. (2019). Improving family functioning following diagnosis of ASD: A randomized trial of a parent mentorship program. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 28(2), 424-435. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-1293-z

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative.

Rights Holder

Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

Provenance

Received from CHORUS

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

12 pgs

File Size

613 KB

Publication Title

Journal of Child and Family Studies

Volume

28

Issue

2

First Page

424

Last Page

435

ISSN

1573-2843

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