Abstract
Families with neurodevelopmental disorders engage in varied types of therapies to address behavioural, communication and cognitive challenges. Research suggests that consistent therapy adherence predicts positive therapy outcomes. The present study examined therapy adherence in 55 parent-child dyads where all children had been diagnosed with ASD, ADHD, and/or ID. Parents completed questionnaires assessing demographics, therapy type, adherence to child treatment, parental stress, and challenging child behaviour. The researchers proposed a new scale, the Child Therapy Adherence Scale (CTAS), which initial testing supported as a reliable measure of therapy adherence. Significant relationships were found between parental stress, annual household income and therapy adherence, with parental stress being a notably strong predictor of therapy adherence. No significant relationships were observed between child challenging behaviour, single parent status and therapy adherence. These findings have implications for practitioners, in that parent levels of stress and demographic influences may impact capacity to adhere to recommended home practice and interventions for children with neurodevelopmental disorders.
Acknowledgments
This research was completed in partial fulfilment of Sharna Loader’s Graduate Diploma of Psychology Advanced, Monash University.
Financial Support
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Conflicts of Interest
None.
Ethical Standards
The authors assert that all procedures contributing to this work comply with the ethical standards of the relevant national and institutional committees on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008.