The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Therapy on Quality of Life and Coping Strategies of Mothers of Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Autism spectrum disorders, as one of childhood disorders, have severe effects on life and family's social and physiological health. Including high levels of anxiety, stress, isolation and uncertainty in parents and other family members. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of mindfulness-based therapy on quality of life and coping styles of mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder. In this quasi-experimental study, thirty mothers of children with autistic spectrum disorder in Qods city were selected and randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. After performing the pretest, the experimental group participated in the eight sessions of mindfulness awareness and afterward a posttest was performed. Data were collected using SF-36 quality of life and Lazarus coping styles questionnaires, and were analyzed by SPSS23 using descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation and inferential statistics), multivariate covariance analysis. The results of the data analysis indicated that mindfulness-based therapy had a positive and significant effect on the quality of life and coping strategies of mothers of children with autistic spectrum disorder. (P< 0.05) This study showed that mindfulness can improve the quality of life and the coping strategies of mothers of children with autism spectrum disorders, so, based on these findings, it is recommended to implement this kind of intervention in consulting, social welfare centers and social work clinic.