Poddar, S., Sinha, V. K., & Mukherjee, U. (2015). Challenges of parents having developmentally challenged children. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 4(4), 604-605.

This study aimed to see whether intervention through ACT on parents can lead to greater acceptance, increased the psychological flexibility of their children's illness and lowered the amount of distress in them.

The sample comprised 10 mothers (having continuous contact with their children) of children suffering from NDs (4 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and 6 children with autism spectrum disorder, each having co-morbid intellectual disability), selected from a Tertiary Care Centre through purposive sampling method. The study followed a hospital-based before-after study design.

Results indicated a significant change in well-being, psychological flexibility, quality of life and critical comments from pre- to post-treatment, further indicating clear intervention effect along the selected aspects of the outcome, parenting and process measures.

Though the sample size was small and long-term effects of ACT could not be assessed, the findings of our study were highly consistent with the theory and philosophy behind ACT and implied ACT intervention for parents having children diagnosed with NDs.