Comparing the family process-content, and personality traits between mothers with autistic children and the normal ones (6-15 years old)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 MSc. in consultancy, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Khomein, Iran

2 Assistant professor of department of psychology, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Kashan, Kashan, Iran

Abstract

Introduction: Having an autistic child confront family to stress, and effect on family functions and psychological characters of mothers in long term. Therefore, This research did in Tehran in order to compare the family process-content, and personality traits between mothers with autistic children and the normal ones (6-15 years old).
Materials and Methods: In this causal-comparative study in 2014, 29 mothers with autistic child, studying in one of the autism schools, and 35 mothers with a normal child, selected by convenient sampling. Data was collected by the questionnaires of NEO-FFI and family process-content and analyzed through T-Student test.
Results: The results has shown that neuroticism personality trait in mothers with autistic children was higher than those with normal children (P<0.01, t=-4.89) and the functions of family process (P<0.01, 5.30) and family content (P<0.01, 4.52) were lower than those with normal.
 Conclusion: The results provide evidences that having an autistic child increases the level stress and anxiety in mothers, which gradually intensify the neuroticism personality trait of them, and reduces the mother´s efficient functions in family process-content. Therefore, it is suggested to pay attention to family functions in psycho -education interventions in order to prevent and treat autism.

Keywords

Journal of Fundamentals of Mental Health
Volume 20, Issue 1
January and February 2018
Pages 31-38

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