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Virtual Group–Based Mindfulness Intervention for Autistic Adults: a Feasibility Study

OBJECTIVES: Although mindfulness-based interventions have been shown to be helpful in reducing psychological distress in autistic adults, limited research has explored virtual delivery in the autism community. We designed an adapted virtual group–based mindfulness intervention, based on input from a...

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Autores principales: Lunsky, Yona, Redquest, Brianne, Albaum, Carly, Hutton, Sue, Share, Maxine, Share-Strom, Daniel, Weiss, Jonathan
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer US 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9189269/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35729967
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12671-022-01909-4
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author Lunsky, Yona
Redquest, Brianne
Albaum, Carly
Hutton, Sue
Share, Maxine
Share-Strom, Daniel
Weiss, Jonathan
author_facet Lunsky, Yona
Redquest, Brianne
Albaum, Carly
Hutton, Sue
Share, Maxine
Share-Strom, Daniel
Weiss, Jonathan
author_sort Lunsky, Yona
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVES: Although mindfulness-based interventions have been shown to be helpful in reducing psychological distress in autistic adults, limited research has explored virtual delivery in the autism community. We designed an adapted virtual group–based mindfulness intervention, based on input from autistic adults, and evaluated its feasibility in terms of demand, acceptability, implementation, practicality, adaptation, and limited efficacy testing. METHODS: Informed by an online needs assessment survey of 77 autistic adults, 37 individuals completed a six-week autism informed manualized course delivered virtually. Participants completed pre, post, and 12-week follow up, and also provided qualitative feedback. RESULTS: There was a demand for the course, adaptations were successful, and participants indicated good acceptability of the intervention. Open-ended feedback highlighted advantages and challenges with the technology, the benefits of connecting with other autistic adults, and unique aspects of the mindfulness instruction. Participants reported reduced levels of distress which were maintained at three-month follow-up, and increased mindfulness, and self-compassion. CONCLUSIONS: Autism-informed adaptations to standard mindfulness-based interventions can lead to self-reported improvements in mindfulness, self-compassion, and distress by autistic adults. Continued research with outcome measures tailored toward autistic adults will be important, during and post-pandemic.
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spelling pubmed-91892692022-06-17 Virtual Group–Based Mindfulness Intervention for Autistic Adults: a Feasibility Study Lunsky, Yona Redquest, Brianne Albaum, Carly Hutton, Sue Share, Maxine Share-Strom, Daniel Weiss, Jonathan Mindfulness (N Y) Original Paper OBJECTIVES: Although mindfulness-based interventions have been shown to be helpful in reducing psychological distress in autistic adults, limited research has explored virtual delivery in the autism community. We designed an adapted virtual group–based mindfulness intervention, based on input from autistic adults, and evaluated its feasibility in terms of demand, acceptability, implementation, practicality, adaptation, and limited efficacy testing. METHODS: Informed by an online needs assessment survey of 77 autistic adults, 37 individuals completed a six-week autism informed manualized course delivered virtually. Participants completed pre, post, and 12-week follow up, and also provided qualitative feedback. RESULTS: There was a demand for the course, adaptations were successful, and participants indicated good acceptability of the intervention. Open-ended feedback highlighted advantages and challenges with the technology, the benefits of connecting with other autistic adults, and unique aspects of the mindfulness instruction. Participants reported reduced levels of distress which were maintained at three-month follow-up, and increased mindfulness, and self-compassion. CONCLUSIONS: Autism-informed adaptations to standard mindfulness-based interventions can lead to self-reported improvements in mindfulness, self-compassion, and distress by autistic adults. Continued research with outcome measures tailored toward autistic adults will be important, during and post-pandemic. Springer US 2022-06-13 2022 /pmc/articles/PMC9189269/ /pubmed/35729967 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12671-022-01909-4 Text en © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2022 This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.
spellingShingle Original Paper
Lunsky, Yona
Redquest, Brianne
Albaum, Carly
Hutton, Sue
Share, Maxine
Share-Strom, Daniel
Weiss, Jonathan
Virtual Group–Based Mindfulness Intervention for Autistic Adults: a Feasibility Study
title Virtual Group–Based Mindfulness Intervention for Autistic Adults: a Feasibility Study
title_full Virtual Group–Based Mindfulness Intervention for Autistic Adults: a Feasibility Study
title_fullStr Virtual Group–Based Mindfulness Intervention for Autistic Adults: a Feasibility Study
title_full_unstemmed Virtual Group–Based Mindfulness Intervention for Autistic Adults: a Feasibility Study
title_short Virtual Group–Based Mindfulness Intervention for Autistic Adults: a Feasibility Study
title_sort virtual group–based mindfulness intervention for autistic adults: a feasibility study
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9189269/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35729967
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12671-022-01909-4
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