Holmberg Bergman, T., Renhorn, E., Berg, Lappalainen, B.P., Ghaderi, A. & Hirvikoski, T. (2022) Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Group Intervention for Parents of Children with Disabilities (Navigator ACT): An Open Feasibility Trial. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05490-6
Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder and other disabilities report high levels of distress, but systematically evaluated interventions are few. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of a novel, manualized Acceptance and Commitment Therapy group intervention (Navigator ACT) in a sample of 94 parents of children with disabilities. Feasibility was measured by treatment completion, credibility, and satisfaction, and preliminary outcomes by using self-rating scales administered at the baseline, post-intervention, and follow-up. The results imply the intervention is feasible in the context of Swedish outpatient habilitation services. A preliminary analysis of the outcome measures suggests that parents experienced significant improvements in well-being. The results indicate that the treatment is feasible and should be evaluated in a randomized controlled trial.