Comparison of the Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy on Stigma in Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism spectrum disorder can be considered a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by communicative deviation or delay, persistent deficits in reciprocal social interactions, restricted patterns of communication, and repetitive behaviors. The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy on stigma in mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder. This study was a quasi-experimental research with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. Forty-five mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder were selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned equally to two experimental groups and one control group (15 participants in each group). One experimental group participated in an acceptance and commitment therapy program consisting of eight 90-minute sessions, and the other experimental group participated in a cognitive-behavioral therapy program consisting of eight 90-minute sessions, while members of the control group did not participate in these programs. Participants were assessed using the Internalized Stigma of Parents of Disabled Children Questionnaire (2009). Data were analyzed using univariate and multivariate covariance analysis. The results indicated that acceptance and commitment therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy had a positive and significant effect on stigma in mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (P < .01). Furthermore, the findings showed no significant difference between the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy regarding stigma and its subscales (P < .05). The findings of this study suggest that acceptance and commitment therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy programs can play an important role in reducing stigma in mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder.