ObjectivesFamilies of children with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) are diverse, raising children through birth, adoption, or fostering, including kinship care. Research has shown that caregivers of children with PAE often experience unique difficulties with parenting, which may differ across types of caregivers. Understanding the range of needs of these families is critical for program development; therefore, it is important to know which caregivers are represented in this research and how.MethodsThe current meta-analysis and scoping review examined the demographic characteristics of caregivers and children included in quantitative PAE caregiver-related research. Systematic database searches using key terms led to the inclusion of 15 relevant studies involving 593 participants in total.ResultsMost caregivers in the studies were adoptive parents, female, middled-aged, White, partnered, had obtained a high school education or higher, and resided in the United States. Most studies included caregivers of school-aged children diagnosed with FASD. Most studies recruited participants through pre-established lists and databases, collected data in person and for research purposes, and studied parenting stress. Attempts to study differences in representation based on research methods were unsuccessful due to a lack of differences within the literature.ConclusionsThe results of this study suggest that (a) non-adoptive parents, (b) caregivers who were male, non-White, non-partnered, less educated, and living outside of the United States, and (c) caregivers of adolescents, and caregivers raising children with PAE who have not received an FASD diagnosis are currently underrepresented in the research; however, this literature is limited and requires further research.

ObjectivesParenting a child with special healthcare needs is associated with significant caregiver stress. Previous research has found that parenting stress and mental health impact outcomes for children with chronic illnesses. Despite this, the importance of managing parents’ stress is often overlooked in the management of chronic health conditions, such as 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS). The objective of this study was to investigate the acceptability of the mindful parenting program, Care4Parents.MethodsThis study was designed as a non-randomised pilot study evaluating the acceptability of an online mindful parenting program Care4Parents, specifically designed for those parenting a child with special health care needs, including medical complexity. There were 20 participants recruited to take part, which involved attending eight online weekly group sessions for 2 h, with a follow-up after 2 months and practice exercises between sessions. Interviews were conducted with 12 participants after the completion of the program. Using attendance data and thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews, the study aimed to determine if the online program Care4Parents would be experienced by participants as acceptable.ResultsResults indicate preliminary evidence of acceptability, with adequate retention and themes emerging from interviews highlighting the appropriateness of content, delivery, and perceived benefits, including personal growth, peer support, and enhanced coping. ‘Barriers to engagement’ was also a theme, and adjustments were discussed based on participant feedback to further enhance the program.ConclusionsThe analysis of the data indicates that the program was deemed acceptable to participants, therefore warranting further research using quantitative measures to confirm findings and investigate effectiveness.

Mantra recitation has been shown to improve emotional well-being in neurotypical individuals with mental health conditions; however, no research has explored its effect on the autistic population. The private, routine nature of mantra and mantra-like recitation may offer unique advantages for autistic individuals struggling with negative emotions and emotion regulation. The purpose of this study was therefore to conduct a preliminary study of the feasibility and efficacy of a self-guided, online program of reciting secular mantra-like phrases in improving negative emotions and cognitive coping mechanisms. This study used a pre-post, quasi-experimental design. Participants (n = 12) recited a mantra-like phrase for 30 min a day over 6 weeks. Each participant chose a secular mantra-like phrase from a predetermined list to practice exclusively throughout the session. Participants also completed two surveys each week to track their progress and practice times. Participants overall reported high feasibility, specifically acceptability and practicality of the program, and high satisfaction with study participation. At the conclusion of the program, participants reported significant decreases in negative emotions, specifically anxiety, stress, depression, and rumination, and significant increases in emotion regulation. These findings offer promise regarding the feasibility and efficacy of secular mantra-like recitation for promoting emotional wellbeing in autistic adults, based on its improvement of symptoms and use of a low-cost strategy that can be performed across settings. Self-guided programs may offer additional benefits to autistic adults given that they can be completed independently and privately within the privacy of their homes.

ObjectivesTo provide an overview of the current literature regarding the neurobiological treatments of psychopharmacology, neuromodulation, oxytocin therapy, and psychological resilience, as treatments for autism-related difficulties, and to distil the research findings from those treatments for everyday clinical application.MethodsInstead of producing another specific systematic summary of the efficacy of these treatments, this review took an overview of each field of research, identified its key research findings, and evaluated the treatment-ready status of each of them in terms of their evidence base. From this information, a set of recommendations were derived for their clinical applications, so as to inform practice in the field.ResultsThese treatments represent relatively recent and neurobiologically based approaches to the challenges of autism, and are in the development stage. Each treatment is promising, and has some evidential basis for its success, but all need further research to establish their evidence-based validity for everyday clinical usage.ConclusionsWhile most of these treatments can be applied with caution, clinicians should acknowledge their restrictive benefits and costs, that are described herein. Within those caveats, each of these treatments should be considered as an emerging therapy that clinicians should consider utilising in appropriate settings and with specific cases.

ObjectivesHappiness is paramount to an improved quality of life (QoL), but there are barriers to assessing the happiness and overall QoL of autistic children using traditional measures. To address this, Study 1 aimed to identify and validate the idiosyncratic mood indices of three autistic children. In Study 2, these indices were measured as QoL indicators during discrete trial teaching (DTT) sessions that followed presession pairing. Task engagement was recorded as a secondary measure.MethodsThree preschool boys on the autism spectrum participated in both studies. Their individualized indices of happiness and unhappiness were first identified and validated using an abbreviated procedure that extended previous research. The effects of presession pairing were then examined using a concurrent multiple baseline design across participants. The idiosyncratic mood indices were measured using 10-s partial interval recording, while task engagement was measured using 15-s whole interval recording.ResultsStudy 1 demonstrated that the abbreviated procedure was efficient for identifying and validating the idiosyncratic mood indices of the participants. Study 2 found that presession pairing improved the mood of all three children during DTT, but there were minimal increases in task engagement. Percentage of nonoverlapping data (PND) scores initially revealed no effects for indices of happiness (M = 43.2%), large effects for indices of unhappiness (M = 76.4%), and no effects for task engagement (M = 37.6%). Contrary to this, omnibus Tau-U scores suggested large effects for indices of happiness (Tau-U = 0.7), very large effects for indices of unhappiness (Tau-U = 0.9), and moderate effects for task engagement (Tau-U = 0.5).ConclusionsIndividualized indices of happiness and unhappiness can and should be used as QoL indicators during behavioral interventions for autistic children.