Effectiveness of group-based Acceptance and Commitment therapy on depression and perceived stress in mothers of autistic children

The aim of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of group-based Acceptance and Commitment therapy on depression and perceived stress in mothers of autistic children with the age of 3 to 8 in Ghods City. Statistical society contained 80 members. In order to do so, 30 women were selected randomly and assigned in experimental and control group randomly, one of the members left experiment on fourth session (n=14). Used questionnaire are Beck Anxiety Inventory second edition and Perceived Stress Scale of Cohen. The experimental group received 8 sessions of acceptance and commitment therapy, each session was two hours, whereas the control group received no interventions. This is a semi-experimental research with pre-test, post-test and one month follow up. The data were analyzed with SPSS-24 software. The result of multi-variable covariance analysis presented that Acceptance and Commitment therapy is effective on decrease of depression and perceived stress in mothers of autistic children. The research results, were stable in one month follow up. Using this therapy for well-being of the family of autistic children is suggested.