Much research documents the risks of caregiving for a person with a chronic illnesses or disorder, but there has been little extension to caregivers of individuals with autism spectrum disorders, despite evidence that this population is at higher risk. There is therefore a need for additional research to understand the unique stressors faced by this population and for the development of customized interventions to provide support to them. To this end, KDHRC proposes to develop ASDNet 2.0, a comprehensive, customizable web-based support system for caregivers of people with ASD. The content on this website will: 1) provide information and resources to reduce the objective caregiving burden, 2) build skills in stress reduction and problem-focused coping to reduce the subjective burden of caregiving, and 3) create connections within a virtual ASD community to mitigate stress though social support. In Phase I of this project, a prototype of the website will be built from extensive input from the target audience. A feasibility evaluation will examine the extent to which the website can increase knowledge, increase coping, decrease stress and increase self-efficacy. Once completed in Phase II, ASDNet 2.0 will provide a widely disseminated, research-based, and highly interactive tool to support ASD caregivers.
