Psychoeducational intervention improves Chinese mothers’ parenting and symptoms of their autistic children

• Yan-Fei Zu

  East China Normal University

• Guangxing Xu

  East China Normal University

• Ya-Song Du

  Shanghai Jiaotong University

• Juzhe Xi

  East China Normal University

• Ya-Ting Chen

  East China Normal University

• Yong-Hui Li

  East China Normal University

In China, mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder struggle with parenting, often becoming depressed. This can harm the well-being and sociocognitive development of their children. We determined whether a psychoeducational group intervention increases the frequency of mothers’ positive speech patterns and alleviates their depression, and, in turn, whether these changes improve the behavior of their children. Mothers (8 from Shanghai, 8 from Taiwan) participated in a 12-week intervention of a weekly counseling session. At the end, analysis of transcripts of the mothers’ speech showed that the frequency of positive emotional words increased and negative emotional words decreased, and their scores on the Beck Depression Inventory and Beck Anxiety Inventory decreased significantly. Children also showed a significant reduction in scores on the Childhood Autism Rating Scale. These results demonstrate that counseling via a semistructured group intervention can improve mothers’ parenting and coping skills, and help to alleviate their children’s autism symptoms.

1. Yan-Fei Zu, East China Normal University
   School of Psychology and Cognitive Science
2. Guangxing Xu, East China Normal University
   School of Psychology and Cognitive Science
3. Ya-Song Du, Shanghai Jiaotong University
   Affiliated Mental Health Center
4. Juzhe Xi, East China Normal University
   School of Psychology and Cognitive Science
5. Ya-Ting Chen, East China Normal University
   School of Psychology and Cognitive Science
6. Yong-Hui Li, East China Normal University
   School of Psychology and Cognitive Science
   

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