Assessment of Irrational Beliefs and Strategies to Cope with Stress as Predictors of Resiliency and Post-traumatic Growth in Mothers of Children with Autism

This study aimed to investigate irrational beliefs and strategies of coping with stress as predictors of resiliency and post-traumatic growth in mothers of children with autism.
This research was descriptive-cross sectional in nature and its research methodology was correlational with predictor design. Statistical population consisted of all mothers of children with autism in the city of Shiraz. Samples included 108 mothers of children with autism that were recruited through purposive sampling. Irrational Beliefs Test (IBT), Coping Inventory Stressful Situations (CISS), Adolescent Resilience Scale (ARS) and Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG) were administered to collect data. SPSS 18 was employed to analyze the data.
According to the results, for the first question, due to R2 = 0.86, high self-expectation, preparedness for blame, reaction of frustration, dependency, perfectionism as well as avoidance-oriented strategies to cope with stress could predict the resiliency in mothers of children with autism. On the other hand, for the second question, regarding R2= 0.71, preparedness for blame, emotional irresponsibility, dependency, emotion-based strategies as well as avoidance- oriented strategies of coping with stress could predict post-traumatic growth of mothers of children with autism.
According to the findings of the study, some of the components of irrational beliefs and strategies of coping with stress can predict the resiliency and post-traumatic growth in mothers of children with autism.