Programa de intervenção online em práticas parentais e habilidades sociais educativas para familiares de filhos com Transtorno do Espectro Autista

Abstract

The family provides the first and most important interpersonal context for human development and, as a result, family relationships influence the mental health of children. Autism Spectrum Disorder is marked by deficits in the social-communicative and behavioral dimensions. Given the complexity of the condition, interventions need to be targeted to the needs of each individual and consist of a transdisciplinary team providing family-oriented services. The goal is to reduce the effects of risk factors as much as possible and to strengthen the family system. Thus, monitoring, guidance, and support for parents of children with autism is an important tool to assist in the development or expansion of positive parenting practices and parents' social educational skills. Henceforth from the theoretical-practical and evidence-based field of Parenting Social Educational Skills, the aim of the study is to evaluate the effects of online intervention program on parenting social educational skills, parenting practices and parenting competence in family members of children with autism and the specifics are: (1) characterize the repertoire of parental educational social skills, parenting styles, and parenting competence of family members of children with autism; (2) implement the Online Intervention Program in Parenting Practices and Educational Social Skills for Family Members of Children with Autism through pre-intervention, procedural, and post-intervention measures, comparing the intervention and control groups; and (3) guide family members of children with autism by presenting reflections and strategies to promote repertoire of positive parenting practices and parental educational social skills. Participants in the study included 89 family members divided into three intervention groups (n=60) and one control group (n=29). The intervention took place in an online format (Google Meet) consisting of 11 meetings. The needs assessment was carried out through conversation rounds. The instruments used in the pre- and post-intervention, with the intervention and control groups are: Registration form; Criterion Brazil; Inventory of Social Educational Parenting Skills; Inventory of Parenting Styles; Sense of Parenting Competence Scale and only with the Intervention Groups - Results Evaluation Form. Immediate Impact of the session and Homework assignments were used as process instruments. The process evaluation indicated the involvement of family members with the intervention, observed by means of adherence to the meetings and the completion of homework assignments. Furthermore, the process evaluation favored the construction of evidence of the program's functionality and allowed an understanding of the assimilation of social educational skills and new parenting practices that were worked on with the participants. The results of the post-test indicated that the intervention promoted the parents' repertoire of social skills, as well as positive parenting practices, and positively improved their sense of parenting competence. The final qualitative evaluation, through the positive records of family members, highlighted the effectiveness of the POFF-TEA conditions. It is concluded that the intervention evidenced some indicators of effectiveness, and can be considered as an alternative for support and guidance to parents, aiming to promote well-being and the progress of their children with autism. Follow-up studies should be carried out to confirm the effectiveness of the program.