From shame to compassion: A qualitative study of the Parent Psychological-Educational program for Autism: Resilience and Learning (P-PEARL)

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) face emotional and practical challenges that affect their well-being and family dynamics. Given parents' crucial role in guiding their children, interventions focused on parental support have been developed. Although group-based programs are shown to be beneficial for stress management, reductions in mental health symptoms, and parental self-efficacy, existing programs do not integrate the various essential resilience-building components (e.g., Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Applied Behavioral Approaches, self-compassion, emotion regulation, self and stress management, and mentalization), and have rarely been evaluated qualitatively from the parents' perspective. This Immersion/Crystallization qualitative thematic approach explores the experiences of parents participating in the P-PEARL program (Parent Psychological-Educational program for Autism: Resilience and Learning) and its perceived outcomes for themselves, their children, and families. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 parents who participated in the intervention, and analyzed them in an iterative process of reading and re-reading the interview transcripts, followed by vertical and horizontal analysis. The analysis revealed that through the intervention, parents learned the importance of self-compassion and of integrating stress-management practices into their lives. They enhanced their understanding of their child's perspective and needs, through mentalization, allowing them to better predict triggers and stressors and manage them better. They felt that the group process fostered a sense of community, emotional support from peers with the same lived experience, and reduced feelings of isolation. The study findings suggest that the P-PEARL program holds significant potential to enhance parental resilience, emotional regulation, and reflective functioning, contributing to the growing evidence base on parent-focused interventions that support family well-being in autism.