Symposia
Autism Spectrum and Developmental Disorders
Kelly B. Beck, Ph.D., LPC
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Jessie Northrup, PhD
Research Assistant Professor
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Kaitlyn Breitenfeldt, BA
Research Assistant
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Shannon Porton, MEd
Research Assistant
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Taylor Day, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Kristen MacKenzie, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Caitlin Conner, PhD
Research Assistant Professor
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Carla Mazefsky, PhD
Professor of Psychiatry
University of Pittsburgh
pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Background: Emotion dysregulation (ED) is highly prevalent among autistic individuals across the lifespan and underlies co-occurring psychiatric conditions in autism. Despite this, psychosocial treatments for ED are lacking for autistic individuals, especially those with high support needs. Mindfulness-based interventions offer a promising approach to target ED while remaining flexible for varied cognitive and communication needs. The Emotion Awareness and Skills Enhancement (EASE) program was the first mindfulness-based intervention designed to target ED in autistic adolescents without intellectual disability (ages 12-17). While promising, we sought to increase the reach of EASE to a wider range of functional needs. As such, the objective of this study was to work with stakeholders to optimize EASE for autistic individuals (ages 7-25) with and without co-occurring intellectual disability.
Methods: Over three iterative phases, we: 1) elicited stakeholder input through focus groups to optimize EASE for autistic individuals with intellectual disability; 2) redesigned the intervention for an expanded age range following a small micro-trial with a sample of autistic adolescents and adults with intellectual disability (n=6); and 3) demonstrated feasibility and acceptability of a caregiver-client team-based approach (EASE-Teams) in a sample of 10 autistic individuals with and without intellectual disability (ages 7-25).
Results: Ten pilot participants completed the treatment with 100% adherence. EASE-Teams was acceptable (M = 4.8, SD = 0.63 on a 1-5 scale) and helpful (M = 4.5, SD = 0.71 on a 1-5 scale) to families. Statistically significant improvements were noted in participant ED (p< .001; n=10), anxiety (p=.01) and depression symptoms (p=.007), and caregiver stress from their child’s dysregulation (p=.01). In a semi-structured exit interview, one caregiver emphasized the acceptance-based model of this program: “In a lot of places, the focus is on changing the behavior, not finding the cause or soothing methods, or not accepting. A lot of times autism spaces come across as ‘how can we make your kid not autistic,’ instead of ‘how can we make your child’s existence better.”
Conclusions: Results of this study suggest our stakeholder-informed process to optimize EASE-Teams for a wide range of developmental and cognitive needs was successful. Future work will involve engaging with community partners to further refine EASE-Teams for delivery by community-based providers and improve reach to groups that have been marginalized.