Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Research in Developmental Disabilities journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/redevdis Building Bridges Triple P: Pilot study of a behavioural family intervention for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder Trevor G. Mazzucchelli a,b,c,e,⁎ , Marian Jenkins a,b,c , Kate Sofronoff c,d,e a Child and Family Research Group, Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health Research Group, and Curtin Autism Research Group, Curtin University, Western Australia, Australia b School of Psychology, GPO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia 6845, Australia c Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism Spectrum Disorders (Autism CRC), Long Pocket, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia d School of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia e Parenting and Family Support Centre, School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia ARTICLE INFO Number of reviews completed is 3 Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder Behavioural family intervention Developmental disability Intervention Parenting Parenting program Positive parenting Triple P ABSTRACT Background: Many parents of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) report that they are ill-equipped to support their children’s behaviour, and these youths are known to be at substantially greater risk of emotional or behavioural problems compared to their typically de- veloping peers. There is a need for an efficient and tailored parenting program for parents of adolescents with ASD that includes guidance on how to best support these youths’ development and well-being. Aims: The current study examined the feasibility of Building Bridges Triple P (BBTP), an eight- week (11.5 h) parenting program specifically targeted to the needs of parents of adolescents with a developmental disability. Methods: A pretest-posttest single group design was used to evaluate the feasibility and accept- ability of BBTP, and the potential of the program to have desired intervention effects, with nine parents of adolescents with ASD. Results: After participating in BBTP, parents reported significant reductions in their adolescent’s behaviour problems, increased parenting confidence, decreased lax and overreactive responding, and decreased symptoms of depression and stress. These effects were mostly observed at post-test but were more pronounced at 3-month follow-up. Parents reported that they were satisfied with the content and format of BBTP. Conclusions: Results provide preliminary support for the feasibility and acceptability of BBTP, and that the program has a number of desired intervention effects. What this paper adds The present paper describes an evaluation of one of the few parenting programs designed to provide tailored support to parents raising adolescents with a developmental disability. To our knowledge it is the first evaluation of such a program to demonstrate pre- post improvements not only in parental adjustment, but also in adolescent behaviour problems, parenting practices, and parenting self-efficacy. As such, preliminary support is provided that Building Bridges Triple P is a feasible, efficient, acceptable and efficacious program for providing support to parents of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. This paper provides a platform for further https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2018.02.018 Received 5 September 2017; Received in revised form 5 January 2018; Accepted 19 February 2018 ⁎ Corresponding author at: School of Psychology, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia 6845, Australia. E-mail addresses: trevor.mazzucchelli@curtin.edu.au (T.G. Mazzucchelli), marian.jenkins@postgrad.curtin.edu.au (M. Jenkins), kate@psy.uq.edu.au (K. Sofronoff). Research in Developmental Disabilities 76 (2018) 46–55 0891-4222/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. T