Effectiveness Of Cbt For Prental Stress In Mothers Having Autistic Children: An Intervention Based Study

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a life-long neurodevelopmental disorder that is incurable. Parents of such children go through a lot because of the diagnosis, stigmatization, behavioral problems of their child and various other factors. This parenting stress causes a lot of difficulties especially for mothers, as they are caregivers and they are more attached with their child. Cognitive behavior therapy has been found effective for various psychological disorders. The current study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of CBT for parental stress in mothers who have an ASD diagnosed child. For this purpose six participants were recruited from a private autism center of Islamabad. All six participants were females who were non-working, having only one autistic child and no disable children. After intake session, Parental Stress Scale was administered in order to assess the stress level before and after providing CBT. Scores before and after providing CBT were compared. The results concluded that combination of cognitive and behavioral techniques is effective for reducing the stressed symptoms face by mothers.