Effects of remote support courses on parental mental health and child development in autism:A randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND Sustaining the mental health of autistic children’s parents can be demanding.AIM To determine the effect of remote support courses on the mental health of parents and the development of autistic children.METHODS Parents of 140 autistic children were randomly assigned to two groups receiving a 2-week intervention:The control group received caregiver-mediated intervention(CMI);the experimental group received CMI with remote family psychological support courses(R-FPSC).The Parenting Stress Index-Short Form,Parenting Sense of Competence Scale,Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7,and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 were used to measure parents’mental health.The Childhood Autism Rating Scale and Gesell Developmental Schedules were used to evaluate children’s development.RESULTS Improved parenting stress,sense of competence,depression,and anxiety were found in both groups,but improvements in parenting stress(81.10±19.76 vs 92.10±19.26,P<0.01)and sense of competence(68.83±11.23 vs 63.91±10.86,P<0.01)were greater in the experimental group,although the experimental group showed no significant reduction in depression or anxiety.Children’s development did not differ significantly between the groups at follow-up;however,experimental group parents exhibited a short-term increase in training enthusiasm(12.78±3.16 vs 11.57±3.15,P<0.05).CONCLUSION Integrating R-FPSC with CMI may be effective in reducing parenting stress,enhancing parents’sense of competence,and increasing parents'training enthusiasm.

The Relationship between Social Support and the Parenting Sense of Competence of Preschoolers’Fathers:The Mediator Role of Psychological Capital

Social support is an essential source of support for preschool children’s fathers to alleviate parenting anxiety,deal with parenting pressure,improve parenting methods,and enhance parenting sense of competence.Psychological capital serves as a critical psychological resource for preschoolers’fathers,helping them cope with parenting stress and enhancing parenting efficacy.To explore the mediating mechanism of psychological capital between social support and the parenting sense of competence of preschoolers’fathers,this study employs stratified sampling to survey 678 fathers from three cities of Henan province in China.The survey instruments mainly consist of the Social Support Rating Scale,Psychological Capital Questionnaire,and Parenting Sense of Competence Scale.Research findings show that social support,psychological capital,and fathers’parenting sense of competence are at the middle level.Significant positive correlations exist among social support,psychological capital,and parenting sense of competence.Social support can positively predict fathers’parenting sense of competence,while psychological capital partially mediates between social support and parenting sense of competence.Therefore,it is possible to increase social support for preschool children’s fathers and improve their psychological capital to relieve their parenting pressure,enhance their parenting participation,and strengthen their parenting sense of competence.