Stress Reduction Treatments for Parents of Children with Intellectual Disabilities

INTERVENTION: Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is a psychotherapeutic treatment based on the interrelation of cognitions, behaviours and affective responses. In CBT, the therapist and client collaborate to identify and modify unhelpful patterns of thoughts and behaviours which may maintain distress. CBT skills are practiced both in session and at home to consolidate gains. Mindfulness‐integrated Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (MiCBT) integrates the teachings of mindfulness meditation practices with the core principles of CBT to address distress across a broad range of emotional and behavioural problems. Mindfulness skills include developing heightened sensory awareness of the present moment, disengagement from a cycle of judgement and reactivity to experience, and use of deliberate sustained attention to sensory and cognitive processes. Both interventions above will be conducted in the form of group therapy sessions, held once a week over 8 weeks, with 2 additional weeks (before and immediately after the 8‐week therapy program) to take baseline and post‐test measures. Each session will be approximately 1.5 to 2 hours long, facilitated by Provisional Psychologists in the Master of Clinical Psychology, supervised by registered Psychologists and Clinical Psychologists. Participants will be encouraged to attend each session, and attendance will be monitored by therapy administrators through marking a roll each session. In both CBT and MiCBT, participants will be taught various techniques in session, and will be assigned home practice tasks based on the material discussed in session to complete in the following week. Participants are expected to complete approximately 30 minutes of home practice per week. CONDITION: Intellectual Disability Stress PRIMARY OUTCOME: Levels of stress in parents with children with intellectual disabilities, in CBT and MiCBT groups, assessed using mean scores on the Parenting Stress Index‐ Short Form (PSI‐SF). SECONDARY OUTCOME: mean score on Kansas Inventory of Parental Perceptions (KIPP) mean score on Parenting Practices Interview mean score on child adaptive behaviour (Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scale). mean score on child behaviour problems (Child Behaviour Checklist and Behaviour Problems Inventory) mean score on parent well‐being (Satisfaction with Life Scales) mean score on parental locus of control (Parental Locus of Control Scale Short Form Revised) mean score on parental self‐efficacy (Parental Sense of Competence Scale) mean score on parenting styles (Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire) mean score on treatment acceptability (Consumer Satisfaction Questionnaire‐7) INCLUSION CRITERIA: Participants must be parents experiencing at least mild stress and have a child with an intellectual disability between the ages of 5‐13 years.