Background

Factors impacting parents’ selection of interventions for their child on the autism spectrum need to be understood in order to better support decision-making. The aim of the current study was to explore parent-reported influences on decisions.

Method

A sample of 14 Australian parents (13 mothers; 1 father) of a child (4–11 years) diagnosed on the autism spectrum were interviewed about their decisions regarding the use of interventions. A thematic analysis was used to identify prominent themes.

Findings

A total of three themes, comprising 11 subthemes were identified. The primary themes were: finding interventions; meeting child and family needs; and acceptability and access.

Conclusion

Parents’ responses highlighted influences on decisions to use evidence-based practices (e.g., behavioural therapies and social skills programs), as well as those with limited empirical support (e.g., animal-assisted therapy and dietary intervention). Influences frequently reported in extant research were reported by parents in this study (e.g., recommendations, logistics of access, and children’s individual needs) as well as issues that warrant further investigation (e.g., coping with challenges and stress, importance of intervention intensity, and consideration of the whole family).

中文翻译：

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对父母自闭症干预决策影响的专题分析

背景

需要了解影响父母为自闭症谱系儿童选择干预措施的因素，以便更好地支持决策。当前研究的目的是探索父母报告的对决策的影响。

方法

对被诊断为自闭症谱系的儿童（4-11 岁）的 14 位澳大利亚父母（13 位母亲；1 位父亲）的样本进行了访谈，了解他们关于使用干预措施的决定。主题分析用于确定突出主题。

发现

共确定了三个主题，包括 11 个子主题。主要主题是：寻找干预措施；满足儿童和家庭的需要；以及可接受性和可访问性。

结论

家长的反应强调了使用循证实践（例如，行为疗法和社交技能计划）以及那些经验支持有限的做法（例如，动物辅助疗法和饮食干预）对决定的影响。本研究中的父母报告了现有研究中经常报告的影响（例如，建议、访问后勤和儿童的个人需求）以及需要进一步调查的问题（例如，应对挑战和压力、干预强度的重要性，以及全家人的考虑）。