Research suggests that depression, anxiety and rumination disorders are among the most important psychological problems inpatients with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Mindfulness-based therapy (MBT) has been found effective in reducing anxiety and depression symptoms, but little research has studied ...
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Research suggests that depression, anxiety and rumination disorders are among the most important psychological problems inpatients with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Mindfulness-based therapy (MBT) has been found effective in reducing anxiety and depression symptoms, but little research has studied patients with autism. The present study therefore aimed at examining effects of a modified MBT protocol (MBT-AS) in high-functioning adults with ASD. A group of 42 autistic individuals, chosen through convenient sampling and aging from 15 to 26, were divided into an experimental (20 individuals) and a control (21 individuals) group. The experimental group received a treatment protocol based on mindfulness (Teasedale et al.; revised edition). Data analysis was carried out using t-test in independent groups, chi-square test and multivariate variance analysis. Results showed a significant decreasein depression, anxiety and rumination in the experimental group. Results also showed that positive affect increased in the experimentalgroup but not in the control group. The present study is the first controlled trial for demonstrating that adults with ASD can benefit from MBT-AS
