Evaluation of the effectiveness of schema therapy on emotional schemas of mothers of the children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Introduction: Studies show that parents of children with autism spectrum disorders are exposed to the stress resulted of having a disabled child more than the parentsof children with other psychological disorders. Objective: The aim of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of schema therapy on the emotional schemasof mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder. Method: This research was quasi-experimental with pre-test and post-test and control and experimentalgroups. The statistical population consisted of mothers of children with autism in Tabriz city. The sample included 27 individuals (14 experimental groups and 14control groups) were selected by available sampling method and randomly assigned to the two groups using an emotional schematic questionnaire in twostages (pre-test and post-test). Ten sessions of schema therapy were performed for the experimental group and the control group was waiting. Descriptive statistics(mean and standard deviation, frequency and percentage) and inferential statistics methods (ANOVA and multivariate analysis of covariance) were used for analysisof data. Results: The results showed that schema therapy led to a change in emotional schema in the mothers of the experimental group and a significantdifference with the control group. Conclusion: The results showed that the use of schema therapy can affect the emotional schema of mothers of children withautism spectrum disorder. Therefore, it is recommended in addition to the use of drug therapies, emotional schema approaches can be considered as acomplementary therapy.

Keywords:

emotional schema , schema therapy , autism disorder.