The State of Deterministic Thinking among Mothers of Autistic Children

Objectives: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive-behavior education on decreasing deterministic thinking in mothers of children with autism spectrum disorders. Methods: Participants were 24 mothers of autistic children who were referred to counseling centers of Tehran and their children’s disorder had been diagnosed at least by a psychiatrist and a counselor. They were randomly selected and assigned into control and experimental groups. Measurement tool was Deterministic Thinking Questionnaire and both groups answered it before and after education and the answers were analyzed by analysis of covariance. Results: The results indicated that cognitive-behavior education decreased deterministic thinking among mothers of autistic children, it decreased four sub scale of deterministic thinking: interaction with others, absolute thinking, prediction of future, and negative events (P<0.05) as well. Discussions: By learning cognitive and behavioral techniques, parents of children with autism can reach higher level of psychological well-being and it is likely that these cognitive-behavioral skills would have a positive impact on general life satisfaction of mothers of children with autism.