Incredible Years Program Efficacy for Parents of Children Affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder in West Bank
Date
2018-01-11
Authors
وهدان, محمد محمود
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
An-Najah National University
Abstract
13. Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder. ASD is defined by deficiencies in communication and socialization, and the presence of restricted interests and stereotypic repetitive behaviors (Haisley, 2014). Parents with children who have ASD experience consistently high levels of stress, which are related, to some degree, with managing challenging child behaviors related to ASD (Estes et al., 2013). This stress can be decreased by the use of Early Intervention Programs for children with ASD. This will also improve parent’s behavioral management skills. Autism Spectrum and Language Delays Program for Parents with Preschool Children (IY-ASD) is an internationally standardized and validated program for teaching valuable parenting and behavioral management techniques to parents of children with severe disabilities including ASD (Webster-Stratton, 2015).
14. Aim: The goal of this study is to test the efficacy of the IY-ASD in reducing familial stress, increasing parenting skills of communication, socialization, problem solving, and reducing parental negative behaviors toward their children with ASD, in the Palestinian context.
15. Participant and Methods: An interventional study design was applied using a pre-post test approach. The research was conducted at An-Najah Child Institute (ACI) in Nablus. Thirty-one parents met the eligibility criteria and participated in the program groups for mothers (61.3%; n=19), and fathers (38.7%; n=12). Twenty one parents (68%) completed the program; ten parents withdrew from intervention prior to the completion of the study.
16. Results: Parental Stress Index (PSI) decreased after treatment with a mean difference of 11.1, which was found to be significant (95% CI 4.3, 17.9) (p = .002). Similarly, the mean related to total Parental Domain subscales decreased significantly (95% CI 1, 17; p=.030), while the mean score related to total stress decreased from 310 at baseline to 288 post-intervention with a mean difference of 22.1 (95% CI 9, 35.3) (p = .002). Fathers demonstrated lower negative behavior than mothers. The mothers discipline scores pre to post intervention was higher by 0.9 (95% CI; 0.2, 1.5) (p= 0.017) as compared to the fathers of children with ASD.
17. Conclusion:
18. Generally, the positive findings provided initial support to the hypothesis that the Incredible Years Program can reduce the stress of parents of children affected by ASD in Palestine, as well as improve behavioral management skills for participating parents. In general, mothers reported higher scores in aggression and physical discipline toward their children than fathers. Families with lower economic resources reported decreased levels of aggression compared with families of a higher salary.