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Resilience Intervention for Parents of Children with Autism: Findings from a Randomized Controlled Trial of the AMOR Method

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Abstract

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience elevated stress, yet parent-specific interventions are sparse. Thirty-five parents of children with ASD were randomized to the novel 8-week AMOR (Acceptance, Mindfulness, Optimism, Resilience) Method parent group or waitlist control group. Significant gains in resilience were reported by AMOR parents only (d = 1.42, p < 0.001, 95% CI [2.152, 10.083]). AMOR parents exhibited significant gains in stress management and reductions in mental health symptoms, along with parent-reported improvements in martial, family, and child functioning. AMOR group follow-up data showed some maintenance of treatment gains. Findings demonstrate promise for resilience interventions in parents of children with ASD. The trial was registered (clinicaltrials.gov; NCT03513419; May 1, 2018) and approved by the Stanford University Institutional Review Board.

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Acknowledgments

This project was funded by grants from the Stanford Maternal & Child Health Research Institute and the Stanford Autism Research Working Group. The authors would like to thank all the participating parents for their generous contributions to this study. We also gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Dr. Jennifer Phillips, Julia Rossi, Dr. Antonio Hardan, and other members of the research team at the Stanford Autism and Developmental Disorders Research Program (ADDRP).

Funding

This project was funded by grants from the Stanford Maternal & Child Health Research Institute and the Stanford Autism Research Working Group.

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Author notes

  1. Jessica M. Schwartzman

    Present address: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 1501 23rd Avenue South, Nashville, TN, 37209, USA

  2. Mirko Uljarevic

    Present address: Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Redmond Barry Building, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, 401 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA, 94305-5719, USA

    Jessica M. Schwartzman, Maria Estefania Millan, Mirko Uljarevic & Grace W. Gengoux

  2. Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Redmond Barry Building, Bundoora, VIC, 3086, Australia

    Mirko Uljarevic

Authors
  1. Jessica M. Schwartzman
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  2. Maria Estefania Millan
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  3. Mirko Uljarevic
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  4. Grace W. Gengoux
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Contributions

JMS contributed to the study conception and design under the guidance of GWG. Material preparation and data collection were performed by JMS and MEM. Data analysis and manuscript contributions were conducted by MU. The first draft of the manuscript was written by JMS. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript and all authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jessica M. Schwartzman.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in the study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments. The study was approved by the Stanford University Institutional Review Board (IRB #45774).

Consent to Participate

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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The authors affirm that human research participants provided informed consent for publication of study results from de-identified data in the manuscript, tables, and figures.

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Schwartzman, J.M., Millan, M.E., Uljarevic, M. et al. Resilience Intervention for Parents of Children with Autism: Findings from a Randomized Controlled Trial of the AMOR Method. J Autism Dev Disord 52, 738–757 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-021-04977-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-021-04977-y

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