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. 2022 Oct;52(10):4337-4354.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-021-05317-w. Epub 2021 Oct 9.

Feasibility, Acceptability and Preliminary Efficacy of Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Autistic Adults without Intellectual Disability: A Mixed Methods Study

Doha Bemmouna  1   2 , Romain Coutelle  3   4 , Sébastien Weibel  3   5 , Luisa Weiner  5   6
Affiliations

Feasibility, Acceptability and Preliminary Efficacy of Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Autistic Adults without Intellectual Disability: A Mixed Methods Study

Doha Bemmouna et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2022 Oct.

Abstract

Self-harm and suicidal behaviors are prevalent among autistic adults without intellectual disability (ID). Emotion dysregulation (ED), the difficulty in modulating emotions, has been identified as an important risk factor. Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) has been proved effective to treat ED in disorders other than autism spectrum disorder. Our study aimed at assessing the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary efficacy of DBT in seven autistic adults without ID exhibiting self-harm and/or suicidal behaviors linked to severe ED. Our results suggest that DBT is feasible and highly acceptable to autistic adults without ID. Additionally, mean scores on the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale decreased significantly post-treatment and at 4-month follow-up, suggesting that DBT might be efficacious in reducing ED in this population.

Keywords: Adults; Autism spectrum disorder; Dialectical behavior therapy; Emotion dysregulation; Self-harm; Suicidality.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Mean scores of the CSQ-8 items
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Individual DERS total scores across the study
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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