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. 2024 Jun;87(6):351-360.
doi: 10.1177/03080226241229298. Epub 2024 Feb 17.

Feasibility of OT-Parentship: An intervention for parents of adolescents with autism

Batel Wachspress  1 , Itai Berger  2   3   4 , Adina Maeir  1 , Tal Mazor-Karsenty  1
Affiliations

Feasibility of OT-Parentship: An intervention for parents of adolescents with autism

Batel Wachspress et al. Br J Occup Ther. 2024 Jun.

Abstract

Introduction: Parents of individuals with autism face various difficulties, among which are decreased resilience and heightened stress. OT-Parentship is an intervention for parents of adolescents with autism that aims to promote parental resilience and enhance adolescents' participation in daily life. This study examines OT-Parentship's feasibility and explores the improvement of parental resilience and child and parent occupational performance following intervention.

Methods: A mixed methods pre-post and follow up study. Fourteen parents (six mothers and four couples) of adolescents with autism participated in a series of 13 individual weekly sessions of 90 minutes each. Study results were analyzed before, after, and 3 months post intervention.

Results: All parents completed treatment, with 100% adherence to sessions. Therapist's treatment fidelity was estimated at 95-97% and parent homework completion was 85%. Preliminary efficacy findings show significant improvement in mothers' and adolescents' occupational performance and improvement in maternal resiliency.

Conclusion: Research results support the feasibility of the OT-Parentship as a family centered, strength-based, intervention program that leads to improvements in adolescent participation and parental resilience.

Keywords: Autism; adolescents; feasibility; parent intervention; pilot.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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