research paper: effect of the problem-solving on themental well-being of mothers with autistic children

Background: the birth of an exceptional child in a family can decrease the mental well-beingof family members. this study aimed to investigate the effect of the family-centered problemsolvingintervention on the mental well-being of the mothers of children with autism spectrumdisorder.methods: this was a quasi-experimental research with a pre-test, post-test, follow-up designand a control group. the statistical population of the study included all the mothers of childrenwith autism disorder in kermanshah city. using the purposeful sampling method, we selected 30mothers of autistic children studying at a rehabilitation center and randomly assigned them intothe two groups of experimental (n=15) and control (n=15). in this study, the satisfaction withlife scale (diener et al., 1985) and the positive and negative affect schedule (watson et al.,1988) were used to measure mental well-being. after collecting the pre-test data of the mothersin the experimental group, 10 2-hour sessions (for a month) of family-centered problem-solvingprograms were administered. also, the post-test and follow-up phases were executed after theend of the sessions and a 1-month interval, respectively. finally, the obtained data were analyzedconsidering the repeated measures design.results: the results showed a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores inthe variable studied. however, the post-test and follow-up scores did not significantly differ inthe variable studied.conclusion: the results of this study supported the effectiveness of family-centered problemsolvingtraining intervention on mental well-being and its subscales. therefore, the familycenteredproblem-solving training program is of great importance as a preventive program.