Regulating Together: Caregivers’ experiences in a shared journey through an emotion dysregulation intervention for autistic youth

Autistic children are more likely to experience challenges with emotion regulation, which affect their academic, social, and other developmental outcomes. Emerging manualized programs have begun to address this gap, including Regulating Together (RT), a group-based outpatient intervention that incorporates concurrent caregiver training. This qualitative study explored caregivers' perceptions and experiences with the RT intervention. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve caregivers of autistic children following program completion within a randomized controlled trial. Thematic analysis identified six overarching themes: (1) recognizing early signs and building child regulation skills, (2) caregivers' experiences of program value, structure, and application, (3) caregivers' growth as self-regulated learners and supportive coaches, (4) the power of communal learning and growth, (5) creating inclusive spaces through diverse voices, and (6) ecological barriers that impeded practice and participation. Caregivers described benefits of participating in RT and reported positive outcomes for both themselves and their children. Overall, the RT model shows nuanced dyadic child and caregiver learning and growth in addressing emotion dysregulation in autistic children and offers a potentially inclusive model for supporting families. Findings also signify how ecological challenges shaped participation and implementation, highlighting the need for future manualized interventions to account for contextual factors in program design and delivery. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Trial registration took place through ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05803369).