Parental Change Promotes Child Development: The Role of Parental Involvement in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Child Group Interventions

This study aimed to examine improvements in parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) following Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), the impact of these improvements on the effectiveness of group interventions for children, and the mechanisms influencing intervention outcomes. A total of 75 families with children with ASD were recruited and divided into two groups: an experimental group of 38 families in which parents participated in the ACT intervention, and a control group of 37 families in which parents did not participate in the intervention. Children from both groups participated in the group intervention. The results revealed that (1) ACT enhanced parental psychological flexibility in caregiving and alleviated parenting stress; (2) Children of parents who participated in ACT showed significantly greater gains from the group intervention; and (3) ACT not only directly enhanced parental intervention effectiveness but also revealed its underlying pathway: parenting stress mediated the improvement in children's intervention outcomes. This therapy facilitated greater gains in children’s interventions by significantly reducing parenting stress among parents of children with ASD.