Exploring the Potential Impact of Training on Short-Term Quality of Life and Stress of Parents of Children with Autism: The Integrative Parents’ Autism Training Module, (2024). Mavroeidi N., Sifnaios C., Ntinou A., Iatrou G. et al.

Open access article: (https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/4/474)

Abstract
Parents of autistic children experience high levels of parental stress and low quality of
life related to the demanding child caring burden they experience. Parent education
and training programs are acknowledged to improve parental well-being and reduce
parenting stress. In the framework of the Erasmus+ Integrative Autism Parents
Training Project (IPAT), we developed the IPAT Training Module based on parents’
expressed needs, in order to improve parental quality of life (QoL) and decrease their
perceived stress. Sixty-two parents from four countries participated in the IPAT
Module Training activity. We used WHOQOL-BREF and Perceived Stress Scale
(PSS-10 version) for QoL and stress, respectively, before and after training and a
study-specific questionnaire to assess participants’ satisfaction. Parents’ QoL
improved significantly in the environment domain and specific items, while stress
levels remained unmodified. Training appeared more advantageous for parents with
lower initial QoL and those whose child had been enrolled in a special education
program for an extended duration. Parents were quite satisfied, in particular those
with lower initial social relationships QoL. Larger studies including a control group
are necessary to support preliminary evidence provided by this study, identify
additional effect moderators, and disentangle the contribution of different components
of the training.

Citation: Mavroeidi N, Sifnaios C, Ntinou A, Iatrou G, Konstantakopoulou O, Merino
Martínez M, Nucifora M, Tanrikulu I, Vadolas A. Exploring the Potential Impact of
Training on Short-Term Quality of Life and Stress of Parents of Children with
Autism: The Integrative Parents’ Autism Training Module. International Journal of
Environmental Research and Public Health. 2024; 21(4):474.