Effectiveness of Spirituality Therapy on Social Stigma and Worry in the Mothers of the Children with Autism

Abstract

Background: The children’s acute and chronic psychological and physical diseases cause their mothers’ mental health. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of spirituality therapy on social stigma and worry in the mothers of the children with autism.

Methods: It was a quasi-experimental study with pretest, posttest, control group and two-month follow-up period design. The statistical population included the mothers of the children with autism visiting the autism centers in the city of Isfahan in the last three months of the lunar year 1396. Convenient sampling method and random replacement were used in the present study in a way that 40 mothers were selected from the ones with children with autism and they were randomly replaced into experimental and control groups (20 in each group). The experimental group received eight ninety-minute sessions of spirituality therapy interventions during two months. The applied questionnaires included Social Stigma Questionnaire and Worry Questionnaire. The data of the study were analyzed through repeated measures ANOVA and SPSS 23.

Results: Results showed that spirituality therapy has influenced social stigma (f = 18.81, P < 0.0001) and worry (f = 24.84, P < 0.0001) in the mothers of the children with autism.

Conclusion: According to the findings of the present study, it can be concluded that spirituality therapy using techniques such as knowing values and deep belief in God can decrease social stigma and worry in the mothers of the children with autism.