This study presents findings from a pilot randomized controlled trial, testing a 12-week intervention to train parents of youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to advocate for adult disability services—the Volunteer Advocacy Project-Transition (VAP-T). Participants included 41 parents of youth with ASD within two years of high school exit, randomly assigned to a treatment (N = 20) or wait-list control (N = 21) group. Outcomes, collected before and after the intervention, included parental knowledge about adult services, advocacy skills-comfort, and empowerment. The VAP-T had acceptable feasibility, treatment fidelity, and acceptability. After participating in the VAP-T, intervention parents (compared to controls) knew more about the adult service system, were more skilled/comfortable advocating, and felt more empowered.

Objective The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between religious affiliation, political beliefs, and lifetime mental health help‐seeking behavior in a sample of suicide decedents. We hypothesized that Christian decedents would be less likely to have sought help than non‐Christians, and socially conservative individuals would be less likely to have sought help than socially liberal or moderate individuals. Method Smaller samples (N = 147 for political analyses, N = 218 for religion analyses) were drawn from a larger sample of 267 suicide decedents, for whom data were collected from loss survivors. Results Logistic regression analyses showed that Christian and non‐Christian individuals did not differ significantly in help‐seeking behavior prior to death by suicide. Individuals who identified as socially liberal were significantly more likely to have sought mental health care than were individuals who identified as socially conservative. Conclusions This is the first study to examine the association between social conservatism and a lack of help‐seeking behavior. These findings show the importance of implementing interventions to increase help‐seeking behavior for suicidality within demographic groups that stigmatize help‐seeking behavior, specifically socially conservative individuals. They also stress the importance of suicide prevention tactics that do not require disclosing suicidal intent within these groups.

The transition from high school to adulthood is difficult for youth with autism spectrum disorder and their families. Recognizing these challenges, there is a small but emerging body of literature testing interventions to improve the transition process. But there are many challenges in performing intervention research that have yet to be fully addressed. We discuss issues that should be considered when conducting interventions with individuals with autism spectrum disorder to improve the transition to adulthood, drawing from our study of a parent training to facilitate access to adult services during the transition years. Issues covered include (1) timing (when is an intervention most effective?), (2) mode of delivery (what is the best way to present information?), (3) outcomes (how can intervention outcomes be accurately measured?), (4) target population (who is the intervention designed to help?), and (5) level of intervention (who should the intervention target?). Our answers, though preliminary, show the need to be flexible, to adopt a trial-and-error stance, and to listen to the needs-both explicit and implicit-of youth with autism spectrum disorder and their parents as they navigate the difficult transition from adolescence to adulthood.

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