OT-Parentship Effectiveness on Parental Resilience, Self-Determination, and Occupational Performance of Parents and Their Autistic Adolescents: Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial

OT-Parentship effectively enhanced parental resilience, self-determination, and parent and adolescent occupational performance, highlighting the potential of parent-centered interventions to improve family outcomes. Plain-Language Summary: Raising an adolescent with autism can bring distinct challenges for parents as they manage the specific demands and complexities that frequently arise in their daily lives. This study explored a new occupational therapy program, OT-Parentship, to help parents of autistic adolescents feel more capable and confident. OT-Parentship combines a structured approach based on integrated theoretical models to empower parents to address their needs and support their adolescent's functional independence through a collaborative process. We compared the OT-Parentship program with a program that used educational videos. Results showed that parents who participated in OT-Parentship experienced significant improvements in their parental resilience, sense of self-determination, and both their own occupational performance and that of their adolescent. These positive changes were seen both immediately after the program and three months later. Our findings highlight the importance of supporting parents of autistic adolescents and suggest that OT-Parentship may be a valuable tool for enhancing parenting abilities and supporting autistic adolescents in their everyday lives.