Emotional Rational Education Training Associated with Mindfulness for Managing Anxiety within Adolescents Affected by High-Functioning Autism: A Descriptive Study

Abstract

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a chronic and persistent pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) whose characteristic deficit is represented by social difficulties, semantic–pragmatic alterations and a limited, unusual and repetitive pattern of interests and behaviors. Specifically, individuals with high-functioning autism (HFA) frequently exhibit associated internalizing symptoms that are not part of the diagnostic criteria but which, nonetheless, tend to impair daily functioning. In this study, we investigated how some forms of treatment could be useful in subjects with HFA who display internalizing symptoms. Theoretical background relates to standard cognitive therapy (SCT) and rational education training with mindfulness (M-ERE). Methods: In this study, we investigated how some forms of treatment could be useful in subjects with HFA and internalizing symptoms, focusing on standard cognitive therapy (SCT) and mindfulness associated with emotional rational education training (M-ERE). We selected two groups of HFA patients with significant internalizing symptoms and performed two different forms of treatment for six months: SCT and M-ERE. The aim of the study was to verify the effectiveness of an M-ERE protocol with respect to anxious and depressive symptoms in subjects with HFA. Furthermore, we wanted to compare the results obtained with this combined treatment with those obtained in HFA subjects treated with SCT. Results: Our analyses showed an improvement in the internalizing symptoms (especially those related to the anxiety dimension) of the group that followed a treatment based on mindfulness and rational emotional education for 6 months compared to the group that had instead performed a 6-month treatment based on the SCT. Conclusions: Our hypotheses were supported by the results, which highlighted the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions in the treatment of internalizing symptoms in adolescents with HFA, and specifically showed that an M-ERE intervention appears more effective in managing anxiety compared to treatment with SCT and appears to be equally effective in the management of depressive symptoms. Not only was the M-ERE treatment effective for the management of anxious and depressive symptoms in subjects with HFA, but the efficacy for the management of anxious symptoms was greater than the SCT treatment.

The effects of mindfulness upbringing perception on social entrepreneurship orientation: A moderated mediation model of prosocial motivation and perceived pressure from external stakeholders

“…These intersections make parents naturally become role models in developing their children’s social entrepreneurship orientation. According to social learning theory ( Frolli et al, 2021 ), the concept of role model is helpful in understanding the formation of social entrepreneurship orientation: social entrepreneurship behavior is the result of socialization -- in socialization, parents have relatively close and frequent contact with them, thus becoming an important role model of social entrepreneurship orientation for the latter ( Dunfield and Kuhlmeier, 2013 ). Specifically, in the process of mindfulness upbringing perception influencing the development of social entrepreneurship orientation, the actual bridge may include not only parents’ attitudes and behaviors but also children’s reactions ( Michael and Cunningham., 1988 ; Stephan, 2011 ; Hair et al, 2013 ; Barker and Lori, 2021 ; Frank et al, 2021 ; Nascan et al, 2021 ).…”