Caregiver Mental Health and Caregiver-Mediated Intervention in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): An Integrated Approach

Project Code

Project Title

Caregiver Mental Health and Caregiver-Mediated Intervention in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): An Integrated Approach

Proposal Abstract

Caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) face high levels of stress and are at risk of developing mental health disorders. In particular, caregivers participating in caregiver-mediated interventions, where they provide the intervention to their young child, juggle many responsibilities to their child and family, leaving self-care as the last priority. Caregivers may not seek mental health support, though interventions for caregiver stress, such as acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), exist. Therefore, our project will pair ACT with a caregiver-mediated child intervention, the Social ABC's, to address caregiver well-being in the context of an ASD intervention. We will elicit caregiver mental health needs in relation to the ACT framework by interviewing caregivers who will be or have participated in the Social ABC's or ACT interventions. Using this information, we will then create an innovative new program that integrates ACT with the Social ABC's. We will evaluate the helpfulness, usefulness and feasibility of this approach. Through this novel approach, we hope to empower caregivers with skills to achieve wellness early on in their journey through their child's diagnosis and treatment.

Keyword Codes

Primary Project Lead for Contact

HBV - Bloorview MacMillan Services Association

Project Summary