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The Impacts of Informal Social Support on the Mental Health of Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
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Abstract: (13635 Views) |
Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the impact of social support on the mental health of mothers who are taking care of five to twelve year - old children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in two cities of Iran: Isfahan and Shahrekord. Method: Ninety-four mothers whose children had been registered for an educational and rehabilitation special center for autism in Isfahan and Shahrekord filled up the General health questionnaire (GHQ) and the Social Support Scale developed by Zimet et al. Structural equation modeling was applied to analyze the data using Amos Graphic-18 software. Results: The proposed model had a good fit in normed, comparative and economic incidences of the data. Based on the model fit indices, the informal social support had a significant effect on the reduction of mothers’ mental health and it reported a variance of 40%. Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, educational programs are highly recommended to draw the attention of mothers having ASD children to the neighboring social supports. Moreover, public are required to extend their social support to families of children with autism to promote mother's mental health.
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| Keywords: Informal social support, Mental health, Autism spectrum disorder, Mothers |
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Full-Text [PDF 389 kb]
(1343 Downloads)
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Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Special
Received: 2016/08/28 | Accepted: 2017/02/15 | Published: 2017/06/11
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