Comparison of the Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Training with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on the Self-esteem of Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism spectrum disorder is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders, the diagnosis of which in children has a negative impact on the quality of life of parents, especially mothers. Thus, the present study was conducted with the aim of comparing the effect of cognitive behavioral training with an intervention based on acceptance and commitment on the self-esteem of mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder.

The current research was a semi-experimental study with a pre-test-post-test design that included two experimental groups and a control group. The study sample included 36 mothers with children with autism spectrum disorder in Rasht City in 2019, who were selected according to the entry and exit criteria. These participants were placed in one of three groups: cognitive behavioral intervention, acceptance and commitment therapy, or the control group. At first, the self-esteem questionnaire (Sorensen, 2005) was administered as a pre-test to all three groups. The first experimental group received cognitive behavioral training in ten 90-minute sessions, and the second experimental group received acceptance and commitment therapy in eight 60-minute sessions, while the control group did not receive any intervention. Then, a post-test was conducted with all three groups. And after three months, the follow-up was done. The data were analyzed using univariate covariance analysis.

The results of this study showed that the effectiveness of the on acceptance and commitment therapy for self-respect (1.318) was different from that of the cognitive-behavioral training group. And the results of the dependent t test showed that in the cognitive behavioral training group (P=0.491, t(11)=0.713) and the intervention based on acceptance and commitment (P=0.067, t(11)=2.028) no significant difference was observed between the two stages of post-test and follow-up on self-esteem (p<0.05).

Based on these findings, it can be stated that both methods of cognitive behavioral education and intervention based on acceptance and commitment increased the self-esteem of mothers with children with autism spectrum disorder. The implications of the obtained results are discussed in the article.