A mindful parenting program for self-care co-occupation of autistic children on parental outcomes: a feasibility pilot randomized clinical trial.

Researchers tested a mindfulness program for 20 parents of autistic children, combined with regular occupational therapy. Parents learned mindfulness skills while helping their children with daily activities like dressing and washing. Most parents (87.5%) found the program acceptable and helpful. Parents in the mindfulness group felt more satisfied helping their children with daily tasks and reported less stress. The benefits lasted for two months after the program ended.

This pilot randomized controlled trial evaluated a mindful parenting program integrated with occupational therapy for 20 parent-child dyads with autistic children. Participants were randomized to receive either mindfulness-based training plus conventional occupational therapy or conventional occupational therapy alone over two months. The study demonstrated feasibility with high acceptability (87.5%), attendance (75%), and compliance rates (75%). The intervention group showed clinically meaningful improvements in parental satisfaction with their child's self-care activities, with large effect sizes (SMD: 2.1 post-intervention, 1.4 at follow-up).

Secondary benefits included improvements in mindful parenting skills and reduced parenting stress, with parental self-efficacy showing delayed gains at follow-up.

Mindfulness-based parenting programs integrated with occupational therapy show promise for improving parent-child interactions around daily activities. The high feasibility rates suggest this approach could be implemented in clinical practice. However, larger trials with longer follow-up are needed before routine implementation can be recommended.

Very small sample size (20 dyads) limits generalizability. Short two-month follow-up period insufficient to assess long-term effects. Pilot nature means findings require replication in larger trials. No details provided on blinding or control for therapist effects.

This pilot randomized clinical trial (RCT) evaluated the feasibility and exploratory effects of a mindful parenting participation program integrated into occupational therapy (OT) to enhance parental engagement in the self-care co-occupation of autistic children. Twenty parent-child dyads were randomly assigned to the intervention (mindfulness-based training + conventional OT) or the comparison groups (conventional OT). The two-month intervention was followed by assessments immediately post-intervention and at two months. Outcomes were measured using the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM), Mindfulness in Parenting Questionnaire (MIPQ), Parenting Stress Index (PSI), and CAPES-DD for parental self-efficacy.

Feasibility was confirmed, with high rates of acceptability (87.5%), attendance (75%), compliance (75%), and fidelity. The intervention group showed preliminary and exploratory improvement in parental satisfaction with the child's self-care co-occupation compared to the control group, with a clinically meaningful change (SMD: 2.1 at the post-test, 1.4 at the follow-up). Improvements were also observed in mindful parenting and parenting stress. Parental self-efficacy showed delayed gains, becoming comparable at follow-up.

Embedding mindfulness into parenting co-occupations is feasible and potentially beneficial in improving parental satisfaction and psychological well-being. Future studies with larger samples and longer follow-up are warranted.