The Impact of a Training Program based on Resilience Components on the Cognitive Emotion Regulation of Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

The purpose of the present study was to design a training program based on resilience components and evaluate its impact on the cognitive emotion regulation of mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder. In this quasi-experimental research, first the training program was designed based on resilience components and then the program effectiveness was assessed through a pretest-posttest control group design with a follow-up session. The statistical population of the study was comprised of all mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder who were referred to one of the counseling centers in Tehran in 2018, from among whom 30 individuals were selected through purposive sampling method and were randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. The experimental group received training in resilience components in twelve 90-minute sessions within 3 months, while the control group received no intervention. The research instrument included the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (Garnefski et al., 2001). The collected data were analyzed via repeated measures ANOVA. The results revealed that the training program based on resilience components was effective in promoting the cognitive emotion regulation of mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (P<0.05). These results were stable over the three-month follow-up period. The findings demonstrated that training in resilience components can be utilized as an effective method to increase cognitive emotion regulation in mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder.