The effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on the happiness and ambiguity of mothers with children with autism spectrum disorder

The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on happiness and ambiguity of mothers with children with autism spectrum disorder.

The research method was quasi-experimental with a pre-test-post-test-follow-up design with the control group. The statistical population of this study included all mothers with children with autism spectrum disorder in Kermanshah in 2021, from which 30 people were selected by random sampling method and by homogenizing age and level of education were randomly divided into two experimental and control groups. Participants responded to the Oxford Happiness Scale (Argyle and Lou, 1989) (OHQ) and the Ambiguity Tolerance Questionnaire (McLean, 2009) (ATQ) for pretest, posttest, and follow-up. After 8 sessions of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy training for the experimental group, the research data were analyzed using repeated measures covariance analysis.

The results showed that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy was effective on happiness and ambiguity tolerance in mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (P <0.05) and its effect lasted over time (P <0.05).

Based on the results of applying mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in increasing happiness and the ability to tolerate ambiguity in counseling and psychotherapy centers can be useful and effective.