Efficacy of CBT based Self-Help Manual in Improving Mental Health of Mothers of Children with Autism

Abstract

The current study aimed to assess the efficacy of CBT based self-help manual in helping the mothers of children with Autism improve their own mental health without having the need to consult any mental health professional. The hypotheses were as follows: HI - There will be reduction in the level of stress, anxiety and depression in the mothers of children with Autism after using the CBT based self-help manual. H2 - There will be difference in the level of stress, anxiety and depression between the mothers of children with Autism who are using the CBT based self help manual and the control group. Thirty mothers of children with Autism were selected for the study using purposive sampling method. They were divided into 2 groups; intervention and control group. A training session was conducted with the intervention group to brief them about the techniques after which they were required to practice them on their own for 8 weeks. Pre and posttest was done to evaluate the mental health of both groups using DASS Urdu version (Habib, 2010). A demographic information form was used to gather relevant information. Pre and posttest results were compared by using Independent Sample t-test and Paired Sample t-test to see the efficacy of the self-help techniques in improving the mental health of the sample. Results proved both the hypotheses to be significant; mothers of children with Autism had a significant decrease in their stress, anxiety and depression while there was a significant difference between the control and the intervention group. This indicated that self help interventions can be a viable option in improving mental health of people who are either unable or unwilling to seek conventional psychotherapy.