The Effectiveness of Quality of Life Psychotherapy on the Psychological Well-Being of Mothers of Children with Autism

The birth of an autistic child affects the family's adaptability and psychological well-being. As autistic children's families have more adaptive problems than normal parents. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of psychotherapy based on the quality of life on the psychological well-being of mothers of children with autism.
This is a semi-experimental study with a pretest and posttest design and a control group. The statistical population consisted of all autistic mother who referred to the autism center of Kashan in the fall of 2016. Using entry and exit criteria, twenty eligible people were selected by available sampling method and divided into two groups, the experimental and control groups. The experimental group was trained by quality of life-based psychotherapy for eight sessions, each sixty-minute once a week. Reefs(1995) psychological well-being questionnaire used as instruments. Data were analyzed using multivariate covariance analysis.
The results of covariance analysis showed that education based on the quality of life treatment led to a significant increase in the performance of psychological well-being (self-acceptance, positive relationships with others, autonomy, environmental domination, purposeful life, and individual growth) of experimental group posttest score compared to control group.(P These children with their limited, delayed and problematic communication patterns, inflict a lot of psychological pressure on families, especially mothers. Therefore, programs to support families and educate strategies of mental health are necessary.