These results suggest that both of the interventions appear to be superior to usual care for the reduction of anxiety symptoms.

Background Accounting for the effects of knowledge of and experience with autism, the relationships of cognitive attribution (perceived controllability), emotions (anger and sympathy), as well as helping and punitive behavioural intentions towards children with autism were examined. Based on the attribution model, mediating effects of anger and sympathy on cognitive attributions and behavioural intentions were tested. Materials and Methods 123 frontline staff in educational settings completed a modified version of the Attribution Questionnaire after reading a hypothetical vignette and completing a quiz on autism.Results Knowledge and experience were only significantly related to punitive behavioural intention towards children with autism. Anger and sympathy mediated the effect between perceived controllability on both helping and punitive behavioural intentions. Conclusions The intentional responses towards children with autism were strongly related to their emotional reactions. Thus, in addition to educating frontline staff about autism, training them on emotion regulation is equally important in autism stigma reduction.

In spite of the limited effectiveness of a one-session staff training workshop, continued staff training is still necessary for the improvement of service quality. Further exploration on how to change emotion response of staff is important.