The purpose of this research study is to examine whether a stress reduction intervention can improve health, mood and biological markers of cellular stress and aging in a group of chronically-stressed maternal caregivers and healthy maternal controls.

This stress-reduction intervention was added into an ongoing observational study in May of 2013. The parent study is a prospective cohort study of the effects of chronic stress in a group of maternal caregivers with children on the autism spectrum and healthy controls whose children have no diagnosis. Study participants are being invited to enroll in a 12-week stress reduction course based on the principles of mindfulness. They will attend four six-hour workshops and participate in 12 weekly hour-long web video conferencing calls to reinforce what is taught in the workshops.

At the beginning and the end of the intervention, they complete self-report measures of psychological well-being and give saliva samples. Since the women are also participating in the longitudinal study, we have other before and after data for them. These include psycho-social measures, body measurements, psycho-physiology measurements, cognitive tests, actigraphy (for sleep), as well as saliva (for hormones), hair (for hormones) and blood (for telomeres, telomerase, gene expression, circulating hormones, inflammation and oxidative stress).

Inclusion Criteria:

• Must have at least one child between 2 and 16 at time of enrollment
• Caregivers must have a child diagnosed in that age range diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.
• Controls must have a healthy child in that age range. All women must be

Exclusion Criteria:

• Chronic disease, including recent history of cancer
• History of psychiatric disorder, such as bipolar disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder
• Medications, including statins, anti-anxiety drugs, and for controls only anti-depressants.