Research Project
Full description A growing body of literature suggests autistic children are approximately three times more at risk of experiencing bullying victimisation at school than their typically developing peers. Autistic children who experience bullying victimisation have been reported to have higher levels of mental health problems and poorer academic outcomes. Several modifiable factors increase the risk of autistic children experiencing bullying victimisation and so could serve as targets for interventions, including having poor peer relationships, misreading social cues, and displaying intense emotionality. No studies to date have explored the utility of combining child social-emotional skills training with parenting support for this particular group. A clinical case series with 10 families across Australia was used to investigate the feasibility, acceptability, and clinical outcomes of Resilience Triple P for autistic children who experience bullying victimisation. A mixed methods approach was used in this trial. Implementation fidelity and families' program adherence were used to gauge the feasibility of delivering Resilience Triple P to families of autistic children through Telehealth. Adverse events were recorded and satisfaction interviews with parents and children were thematically analysed to establish the acceptability of Resilience Triple P and how to improve its delivery for families of autistic children. Children's bullying victimisation, mental health problems, school refusal, and social skills, facilitative parenting, and parental/ caregiver self-regulation were also measured at pre-intervention (0 months), post-intervention (4 months) and follow-up (6 months) and intragroup effect sizes were used to quantify changes in these clinical outcomes between assessment timepoints. Results from this study suggested that Resilience Triple P can be delivered as intended to families of autistic children through Telehealth and was largely acceptable to participating children and parents. Intragroup, sustained reductions in bullying victimisation, depression, and anxiety were found for the autistic children in this study who completed the Resilience Triple P program. Improvements in parent-reported child social-emotional skills and parenting were also observed among most of the families in this study. Of note, many of these improvements in functioning were large. This study shed light on how social skills programs can be delivered in a neuroaffirming way and are useful to families of autistic children who experience bullying victimisation.