Bibliographic Details
| Title: |
Feasibility and Preliminary Impacts of a Stress Reduction Intervention for Caregivers of Adolescents and Young Adults With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. |
| Authors: |
Bodde, Amy E. (AUTHOR), Helsel, Brian C. (AUTHOR), Willis, Erik (AUTHOR), Montgomery, Robert N. (AUTHOR), Ptomey, Lauren T. (AUTHOR), Forseth, Bethany (AUTHOR) |
| Source: |
Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities. Mar2026, Vol. 39 Issue 2, p1-10. 10p. |
| Subjects: |
Saliva analysis, Stress management, T-test (Statistics), Research funding, Pilot projects, Benchmarking (Management), Interviewing, Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, Questionnaires, Accelerometers, Treatment duration, Hydrocortisone, Actigraphy, Descriptive statistics, Chi-squared test, Intellectual disabilities, Developmental disabilities, Burden of care, Yoga, Psychological stress, Health behavior, Research methodology, Videoconferencing, Psychology of caregivers, Social support, Psychosocial factors, Adolescence, Adults |
| Abstract: |
Background: Family caregivers of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities often experience chronic stress and poor mental and physical health. This study examined the feasibility of a 12‐week single‐arm intervention to reduce caregiver stress. Methods: The caregiver intervention included a yoga class and informational support group. Feasibility measures included recruitment, attendance, retention, fidelity and acceptability (interviews). Exploratory impacts on perceived and physiological stress (salivary cortisol), social support, caregiver strain, family empowerment, sleep, physical activity and body mass index were assessed by percent change across the intervention. Results: Twenty caregivers enrolled (95% retained) and participants attended 67% of sessions. Intervention fidelity was 95%. Semi‐structured interviews revealed high acceptability of the intervention. Perceived stress decreased by 5.8% and cortisol decreased by 24.1%. Changes in all but one exploratory outcome were in desirable directions. Conclusions: The intervention was feasible and acceptable among participants with positive initial effects on the majority of exploratory outcomes. Lay Summary: We evaluated whether we could deliver a yoga and informational support group programme for caregivers of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.We were able to complete a 12‐week in‐person programme, and caregivers improved their stress levels, saw positive changes in other health outcomes and reported enjoying the programme.Caregivers may benefit from stress‐reducing programmes which include yoga and an informational support group. Additional studies should test these programmes in larger groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: |
Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
