Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Based Therapy on Psychological Capital in Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Objective This study aimed to investigate the effect of acceptance and commitment therapy on the psychological capital of mothers with children with an autism spectrum disorder.
Methods  This research is methodically classified as experimental research and had a pre-test and post-test design with a control group. The statistical population of this study included all mothers of children with autism spectrum disorders in medical and rehabilitation centers in Semnan in 2018. Twenty mothers with children with autism spectrum disorder were selected as the research sample by available sampling method and were randomly assigned to the experimental (n = 10) and control (n = 10) groups. Initially, both groups were evaluated by an autism questionnaire. Then, the intervention program based on acceptance and commitment was performed in 10 sessions of 45 minutes and 2 times a week by the researcher on the experimental group. While the control group did not receive such intervention. Analysis of covariance was used to analyze the data.
Results  The results showed that treatment based on acceptance and commitment has improved the psychological capital of mothers.
Conclusion  Therefore, acceptance and commitment therapy can affect the mental health and psychological capital of mothers of children with autism spectrum disorders.