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Supporting Treatment Selection in Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: an Educational Workshop with Acceptance and Commitment Training

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Supporting Treatment Selection in Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: an Educational Workshop with Acceptance and Commitment Training University of Windsor Scholarship at UWindsor Electronic Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Major Papers 11-1-2019 Supporting Treatment Selection in Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Educational Workshop with Acceptance and Commitment Training Brianne E. Drouillard University of Windsor Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd Recommended Citation Drouillard, Brianne E., "Supporting Treatment Selection in Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Educational Workshop with Acceptance and Commitment Training" (2019). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 8138. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/8138 This online database contains the full-text of PhD dissertations and Masters’ theses of University of Windsor students from 1954 forward. These documents are made available for personal study and research purposes only, in accordance with the Canadian Copyright Act and the Creative Commons license—CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivative Works). Under this license, works must always be attributed to the copyright holder (original author), cannot be used for any commercial purposes, and may not be altered. Any other use would require the permission of the copyright holder. Students may inquire about withdrawing their dissertation and/or thesis from this database. For additional inquiries, please contact the repository administrator via email ([email protected]) or by telephone at 519-253-3000ext. 3208. Supporting Treatment Selection in Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Educational Workshop with Acceptance and Commitment Training Brianne E. Drouillard A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies through the Department of Psychology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Windsor Windsor, Ontario, Canada 2019 © 2019 Brianne Drouillard Supporting Treatment Selection in Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Educational Workshop with Acceptance and Commitment Training by Brianne E. Drouillard APPROVED BY: __________________________________________________ J. Weiss, External Examiner York University __________________________________________________ D. Hernandez-Jozefowicz School of Social Work __________________________________________________ C. Miller Department of Psychology __________________________________________________ J. Hakim-Larson Department of Psychology __________________________________________________ M. Gragg, Advisor Department of Psychology October 29, 2019 TREATMENT SELECTION iii DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY I hereby certify that I am the sole author of this dissertation and that no part of this dissertation has been published or submitted for publication. I certify that, to the best of my knowledge, my dissertation does not infringe upon anyone’s copyright nor violate any proprietary rights and that any ideas, techniques, quotations, or any other material from the work of other people included in my dissertation, published or otherwise, are fully acknowledged in accordance with the standard referencing practices. Furthermore, to the extent that I have included copyrighted material that surpasses the bounds of fair dealing within the meaning of the Canada Copyright Act, I certify that I have obtained a written permission from the copyright owner(s) to include such material(s) in my dissertation and have included copies of such copyright clearances to my appendix. I declare that this is a true copy of my dissertation, including any final revisions, as approved by my dissertation committee and the Graduate Studies office, and that this dissertation has not been submitted for a higher degree to any other University or Institution. TREATMENT SELECTION iv ABSTRACT In the present study, the benefits of integrating acceptance and commitment training (ACT) into an educational workshop for parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were investigated. A sample of 23 parents (18 mothers and 5 fathers) of children with ASD aged 4 to 26 years were randomly assigned to participate in either the ACT workshop (i.e., treatment- related information supplemented with ACT) or the Support workshop (i.e., treatment-related information with supplemented general parent support). Parents’ knowledge of ASD treatment selection, acceptance of ASD-related thoughts and emotions, ASD-related cognitive fusion, and willingness to select evidence-based treatments were measured at preworkshop, postworkshop, and three-month follow-up time points. Parents’ feedback regarding their experiences was also gathered via open-ended items embedded within questionnaires completed by participants at postworkshop and follow-up. Repeated measures analyses of variance revealed increases in treatment selection knowledge from preworkshop to postworkshop for both groups and these gains were maintained at follow-up. Trajectories of change in parents’ acceptance and cognitive fusion differed significantly by group over time, with ACT workshop participants showing increases in acceptance and decreases in cognitive fusion over time. However, the differences in acceptance and cognitive fusion between groups failed to reach statistical significance at postworkshop and follow-up time points. Unexpectedly, participants’ willingness to select evidence-based treatments decreased over time in both groups. Although acceptance and cognitive fusion were not found to moderate the relation between participants’ treatment selection knowledge and their willingness to select evidence-based treatments, evidence for a positive relation between increases in parents’ acceptance from postworkshop to follow-up and their willingness to select evidence-based treatments at follow-up was found. Participants in both TREATMENT SELECTION v groups identified treatment information as the most important thing they learned in the workshop. Support workshop participants revealed that they most liked the treatment information, while ACT workshop participants revealed that they most liked the ACT-specific content. Participant satisfaction ratings were high for both workshops and participants reported feeling more knowledgeable and confident in their ability to effectively select treatments for their children at follow-up. Results of the study demonstrate the feasibility of incorporating ACT into educational community workshops for parents of children with ASD. Although neither workshop was associated with increased willingness to select evidence-based treatments, increases in treatment selection knowledge were observed in both groups, with preliminary support for additional benefits of increased acceptance and decreased cognitive fusion in the ACT workshop group. Further implications are discussed, as well as strengths and limitations of the present study and suggestions for future research. TREATMENT SELECTION vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Completion of this project would not have been possible without the contributions and support of many. First, I would like to thank the parents who took time out of their busy lives to participate in this study. Your dedication, compassion, warmth, and positivity continue to inspire me each day. I would also like to express my gratitude to my research supervisor, Dr. Marcia Gragg, for her dedication to this project, as well as my committee members, Drs. Julie Hakim- Larson, Carlin Miller, Debra Hernandez-Jozefowicz, and Jonathan Weiss for their guidance and support. Thank you to my Parent Advisors, Rita Miceli and Lee Steel for their valuable insights and contributions to the study. Thank you to Drs. Kendall Soucie and Mich Monette for their guidance with statistical and qualitative analyses. I would also like to thank my colleagues at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, particularly Dr. Abbie Solish, for their continued encouragement and patience throughout my journey to complete this project. Finally, I could not have completed this project without the unwavering support of my family. This project has been my marathon and I am so thankful to have had all of you to help pull me across the finish line. We have all sacrificed to achieve this milestone and the accomplishment is ours to share. TREATMENT SELECTION vii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY .............................................................................. iii ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................. x LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... xi LIST OF APPENDICES ................................................................................................... xii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................... xiii INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 Study Overview ........................................................................................................... 1 Autism Spectrum Disorder .......................................................................................... 3 Prevalence ......................................................................................................
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