Aller, T. B., Kelley, H. H., Klimczek, K. C., Covington, B., & Levin, M. E. (2026). A longitudinal pilot evaluation of Valued Living: An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-Based Digital Mental Health Intervention for Autistic Adults. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 39, 100961. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2025.100961
Digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) are scalable, accessible, and easily contextualized to the needs of autistic adults, making them a promising resource to help address common barriers to high quality mental health supports. The current preregistered study employs an open trial design and a mixed methods approach to assess the preliminary efficacy of a DMHI among N = 56 autistic adults. The co-created DMHI contains six sessions based in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), in a skills-training context, aiming to improve subjective wellbeing and quality of life. We found that changes in subjective wellbeing were observed at post-test (4-weeks following baseline), but these changes were not maintained at follow-up (10-weeks following baseline). However, changes in quality of life were observed at post-test and maintained at follow-up. Changes were also observed in our secondary outcomes, including psychological distress and psychological flexibility, most of which were maintained at follow-up. The current study provides preliminary support for the efficacy of an ACT-based DMHI to improve subjective wellbeing and quality of life among autistic adults.
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