Using mindfulness to improve quality of life in caregivers of individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorder

Nirbhay N Singh; Giulio E Lancioni; Oleg N Medvedev; Yoon-Suk Hwang; Rachel E Myers; Kishani Townshend

doi:10.1080/20473869.2020.1827211

Using mindfulness to improve quality of life in caregivers of individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorder

Int J Dev Disabil. 2020 Oct 27;66(5):370-380. doi: 10.1080/20473869.2020.1827211. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Nirbhay N Singh¹, Giulio E Lancioni², Oleg N Medvedev³, Yoon-Suk Hwang⁴, Rachel E Myers⁵, Kishani Townshend⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, USA.
² Department of Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari, Bari, Italy.
³ School of Psychology, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.
⁴ Australian Catholic University, Fitzroy, Australia.
⁵ WellStar School of Nursing, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA, USA.
⁶ The Cairns Institute, James Cook University, Smithfield, QLD, Australia.

Abstract

Objectives: Caring for individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be gratifying as well as stressful. Professional staff employed as caregivers often report compromised mental and physical wellbeing due to the stressful nature of working with clients who exhibit aggressive and destructive behaviors. Prolonged work-related stress results in diminished quality of life for the caregivers. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the comparative effects of three programs-mindfulness program, psychoeducational program, and inservice training-as-usual-on the quality of life of professional caregivers who provide services to adolescent and adult clients with ID and ASD.

Methods: Professional caregivers (N = 216) were randomized into three experimental conditions, and trained in mindfulness, psychoeducation, and inservice training-as-usual. The effects of the training on the caregivers' quality of life were assessed in terms of perceived stress, compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue (i.e. burnout, secondary traumatic stress), and symptoms of depression at the end of 32 weeks of implementation.

Results: Perceived stress, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress decreased significantly in the mindfulness condition, followed by psychoeducation, but not in the inservice training-as-usual condition. Compassion satisfaction increased significantly in the mindfulness condition, followed by psychoeducation, but not in the inservice training-as-usual condition. Symptoms of depression, which were rated in the borderline clinical range prior to intervention, decreased significantly to within normal levels in the mindfulness condition, decreased minimally in the psychoeducation condition, and showed no change in the training-as usual condition.

Conclusions: A 3-day training in mindfulness meditations and associated contemplative practices provides a better basis for enhancing caregivers' quality of life than psychoeducation or inservice training-as-usual.

Keywords: Developmental disabilities; MBPBS; burnout; caregivers; inservice training; mindfulness; psychoeducation; stress.