Faculty of Life Sciences and Education, School of Psychology and Therapeutic Studies, University of South Wales, Pontypridd, United Kingdom.
Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Science, Department of Psychology, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2022 Mar 3;17(3):e0264837. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264837. eCollection 2022.
Caregivers of individuals with ASD can experience various practical, psychological, and social demands and need effective ways of coping to ameliorate the negative effects of caregiving. Numerous coping strategies are available, but the literature shows that caregivers can still struggle to cope, suggesting that interventions to support coping efforts could be beneficial. The MRC framework advocates the systematic development and evaluation of interventions, and this study was conducted to inform the future development of a self-help Positive Reappraisal Coping Intervention (PRCI) for these caregivers. The aim was to establish whether positive reappraisal coping strategies were used and associated with greater psychological wellbeing, prior to developing such an intervention.
Caregivers of individuals with ASD (N = 112) responded to items from an existing PRCI (Lancastle, 2006; Lancastle & Boivin, 2008), by writing about aspects of caregiving that reflected the meaning of each item. They also completed questionnaires assessing resilience, caregiving burden, and positive and negative emotions.
Participants provided significantly more positive responses than negative responses to PRCI items, demonstrating their use of positive reappraisal coping. Thematic analyses showed that positive responses focused on factors such as their loved one's personality and achievements, the contributions caregivers had made to this person's progress, the support received, and their own personal development. Positive reappraisal coping was associated with greater resilience, more positive and less negative emotions, and a lesser sense of caregiver burden.
This modelling study suggests that positive reappraisal strategies were used by caregivers and associated with greater psychological wellbeing. The findings will inform the development of a self-help PRCI for the caregivers of those with ASD. Future studies will systematically evaluate that PRCI to determine the nature of intervention effects and mediators and moderators of effects.
照顾 ASD 患者的个体的人可能会经历各种实际的、心理的和社会的需求，并且需要有效的应对方式来减轻照顾带来的负面影响。有许多应对策略可用，但文献表明，照顾者仍然难以应对，这表明支持应对努力的干预可能是有益的。MRC 框架主张系统地开发和评估干预措施，本研究旨在为这些照顾者的自我帮助积极重新评估应对干预（PRCI）的未来发展提供信息。目的是在开发此类干预措施之前，确定是否使用了积极的重新评估应对策略，以及这些策略是否与更大的心理健康相关。
ASD 患者的照顾者（N=112）通过撰写反映每个项目意义的照顾方面的内容，对现有的 PRCI（Lancastle，2006 年；Lancastle 和 Boivin，2008 年）的项目做出回应。他们还完成了评估韧性、照顾负担以及积极和消极情绪的问卷。
与 PRCI 项目的负面反应相比，参与者提供了更多的积极反应，这表明他们使用了积极的重新评估应对策略。主题分析表明，积极的反应集中在他们所爱的人的个性和成就、照顾者对这个人的进步所做出的贡献、所得到的支持以及他们自己的个人发展等因素上。积极的重新评估应对与更大的韧性、更多的积极情绪和更少的消极情绪以及较少的照顾负担相关。
这项建模研究表明，照顾者使用了积极的重新评估策略，并且与更大的心理健康相关。研究结果将为 ASD 患者的照顾者的自我帮助 PRCI 的开发提供信息。未来的研究将系统地评估该 PRCI，以确定干预效果的性质以及效果的中介和调节因素。
