Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Ph.D. student of Psychology, Azad University, Qom branch
2 associate professor of Shaid Rajaee teacher training university
3 Associate Professor, Department of Transplantation & Diseases Management, Vice Chancellery for Treatment, Iran Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Considering the specific characteristics of autism spectrum disorder, parents and especially mothers are under a lot of pressure and it is important to identify factors that help reduce this pressure. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine the structural relationships of fathers' involvement and mothers' parenting stress with the mediating role of family functioning, resilience and social support in mothers of autistic children. Research method has been descriptive-correlation type and structural equation model was used. From among the autism schools in Tehran, 4 schools were randomly selected and 276 volunteer mothers participated in the research and were asked to use the Phetrusuwan & Miles's Parenting Stress Scale: Autism (2009), Olson et al. 's Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale (1985), Conner and Davidson's Resilience Scale (2003), Zimmet et al.'s Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (1988), and Fathers' Involvement Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using Smart PLS 3.2 software. The results indicated that fathers' participation and resilience have a direct negative effect on mothers' parenting stress. In addition, fathers' participation has an indirect effect on mothers' parenting stress through the mediation of family functioning (p < 0.05). a significant relationship was also observed between family functioning and mothers' resilience. According to the obtained results, it seems that fathers' participation as an external factor and resilience as an internal factor play a role in predicting parenting stress (p < 0.05). Also, the adaptive functioning of the family can strengthen the role of fathers' participation in reducing mothers' stress. The results can be used in predicting parenting stress of mothers of autistic children.
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