Sustainable Mindfulness and Resilience Training (SMART)

Investigators will prospectively examine a sample comprised of parental caregivers (ages 20 to 60) of children with autism spectrum disorder (ages 3 to 12) to determine how responses to the chronic stress of caregiving may contribute to psychological distress (e.g depression, caregiving burden, self-reported sleep). All participants: Participants will be randomized into the active group vs. wait list control group. Investigators will assess indices of psychological health at 2 time points over 6 weeks (length of intervention) - a Baseline Assessment, and a Follow-up Assessment. Both baseline and follow-up assessments include the same battery of questionnaires. Daily/nightly diaries will also be completed by participants in the 7 days leading up to the baseline and follow-up time points. In addition to self-report measures, investigators will conduct a 20-25 minute qualitative interview with caregivers both pre and post-intervention. The interview is optional and will be conducted via telephone before beginning the six-week course and within two weeks of finishing the course. The interview will be used to assess caregiver's acceptance of their child's condition and better understand their personal perception of their own acceptance. Interviews questions will be open-ended and may be modified based on the caregiver's response. An example question includes, "How hard has it been to accept your child has ASD? Control group only: The control group will be waitlisted and enrolled in the next 6-week mindfulness course. Investigators expect the next mindfulness course for the waitlist control group to be held within 1-3 months of the initial active group course. Active group only: The active group will participate in a mindfulness resilience training intervention. The intervention consists of weekly 2 hour classes held at UCSF Parnassus Campus over the course of 6 weeks. The study PI, Dr. Elissa Epel, will lead the intervention classes teaching the fundamentals of mindfulness training. The training focuses on acceptance and awareness of the present moment.