| Abstract | Parenting is challenging, particularly for parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Gratitude is a positive emotion, which has been used to increase well-being in interventions with chronically stressed populations. However, such programs have not been utilized with parents of children with ASD. An 8-week gratitude intervention using weekly writing activities about neutral life-events, gratitude, or child-specific gratitude was implemented to improve well-being of 67 mothers of children with ASD. Targeted areas of well-being included psychological well-being (e.g., depressive symptoms and affect), relationship well-being (e.g., couples satisfaction and coping), and parenting-related well-being (e.g., parenting efficacy). A pre- and post- intervention assessment were administered using self-report measures. Those receiving the intervention were predicted to show increased well-being in all areas compared to baseline levels. However, no significant group differences attributed to the intervention were found. Qualitative analyses were conducted to explore the writing samples provided during the intervention. |
