Evaluation of the effectiveness of psychoeducational program for parents raising children with autism spectrum disorders

Relevance. The increasing number of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) draws the attention of researchers to solving the problems associated with the provision of medical and psychological assistance to such children. Insufficient awareness of parents of juvenile patients with ASD about the possibilities of treatment and forms of assistance can disrupt the treatment and rehabilitation process. One of the approaches aimed at solving this problem is psychoeducation.

Intention – to evaluate the effectiveness of a psychoeducational program for parents raising children with ASD.

Methodology. 75 families raising children aged 3–5 years with clinically verified diagnoses according to ICD-10 (F84.0x – childhood autism, F84.1x – atypical autism) took part in the study. A psychoeducational program was implemented with the parents of these children in the form of group thematic seminars. Before the program and 1.0–1.5 months after its completion, parents were assessed using the following methods: method for diagnosing attitudes towards a child’s illness by V.E. Kagan and I.P. Zhuravleva; modified questionnaire of parental attitude by A.Ya. Varga and V.V. Stolin for families raising children with mental disabilities (Galasyuk I.N., Mitina O.V.); ways of coping questionnaire by R. Lazarus (adapted by Wasserman L.I. et al.).

Results and Discussion. Parents of children with ASD are characterized by hyponosognosic, in some cases anosognostic attitude towards the child’s illness, lack of awareness about ASD, as well as insufficient knowledge and skills of interaction with the child. After completing the psychoeducational program, parents became more aware of and accept the child’s illness, their anxiety as well as internality decreased, while adherence to the route of managing a child with ASD, developed by a multidisciplinary team of specialists, increased. Parents began to realize the role of various factors that can both cause the disease and exacerbate its course. Parents shifted from internal to external polarity in attributing the causes of the disease, while assuming their own role in treatment and rehabilitation of their children.

Conclusion. The data obtained indicate the effectiveness of psychoeducational work with parents of children with ASD within a comprehensive treatment and rehabilitation process.

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