The purpose of this study was to determine if parent psychoeducation about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) impacts parents’ short-term and/or... Show moreThe purpose of this study was to determine if parent psychoeducation about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) impacts parents’ short-term and/or long-term expectations for their children with ASD. The impact of parent psychoeducation on parents' expectations for their children with ASD was assessed. Research has demonstrated that a parent’s engagement in their child’s therapy impacts the effectiveness of that intervention. Given the importance of parents’ engagement in therapy, it is clinically relevant to identify the variables that may influence a parent’s level of engagement. Working from the framework of Bandura’s expectation theory, the ability to assess and intervene on expectations would likely have a positive influence on parental engagement. Participants attending parent psychoeducation and parents on a waitlist for parent psychoeducation completed expectations questionnaires before and after parent psychoeducation. Results of a 2x2 (group x time) mixed factorial ANOVA did not support the hypotheses that expectations changed over time as a function of completing parent psychoeducation. These results are discussed in terms of potential adjustments to current parent psychoeducation curriculum or additional variables that may be of interest to better improve (i.e. increase) parent expectations. Show less
