Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitmentbased Therapy on Psychological Flexibility and Resilience in Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

One of the most stressful experiences for any family is managing a child with a disability, disorder, or chronic illness. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment-based therapy on psychological flexibility and resilience among mothers with autistic children in Shiraz. This is a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest study with a control group. The statistical population of the present study included mothers with autistic children referring to the autism community in Shiraz city at 1398. According to the semiexperimental design and the criteria for research, a sample of 36 patients (each group of 18) was selected randomly. Samples were randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. The experimental group received 8 sessions of “acceptance and commitment therapy”. The instrument for collecting information included the Cognitive Flexibility Questionnaire (CFI) and Connor & Davidson Resilience Questionnaire. Data were analyzed through SPSS software using covariance. The results showed that Commitment-based Therapy is effective in increasing the mental flexibility and resilience of mothers of children with autism (P=0.001). Based on the findings, it can be concluded that acceptance and commitment therapy is effective in improving the mental health of mothers with childhood autism.