Parent and child outcomes of JumpStart™, an education and training program for parents of children with autism spectrum disorder

Background: This pilot study examined the effectiveness of JumpStart (TM), a 4-week education program including a Behavioral Skills Training model for parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). JumpStart aims to teach parents to begin implementing evidence-based behavioral intervention while learning to navigate service systems in order to establish a comprehensive intervention program. Method: Change in parent self-efficacy, knowledge, stress, depressive symptoms, ability to implement intervention, and child responsivity were compared in treatment (n = 18) and waitlist control (n = 18) groups. Additionally, exploratory analyses examined 3-month follow-up data in a subset of participants (n = 12). Results: Findings indicated significantly larger increases in parent outcome expectations, parent competence, parent knowledge, fidelity of implementation, and child responsivity in the treatment group compared to the waitlist control group. Three-month follow-up data indicated maintenance of parent outcome expectations, knowledge, and child responsivity. Conclusions: Findings provide preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of JumpStart. Given the growing number of children with ASD and finite resources, short-term programs like JumpStart may be an effective method by which parents are able to begin intervening with their child's development while they arrange for comprehensive services.