Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment-based Therapy on Psychological Flexibility among Mothers with Autistic Children

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of acceptance-based treatment on psychological flexibility of mothers of children with autism disorder. This study was a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest with control group. The statistical population of the present study included mothers with autistic children referring to the autism community in Qom city at 2017. According to the semi-experimental design and Criteria for research, a sample of 30 patients (each group of 15) was selected voluntarily. 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 Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II). Data were analyzed by SPSS software using covariance. This study with research ethics code IR.IAU.ARAK.REC.1396.39 has been approved by research ethics committee at Islamic Azad University of Mahallat, Iran. Based on study findings, the acceptance- and commitment-based therapy had significant impact on psychological flexibility in mothers of children with autism. 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.