Compassion-Focused Therapy for Mothers of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Impact on Parental Burnout,...

Mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) frequently experience a substantial caregiving burden that heightens their vulnerability to parental burnout, harsh self-criticism, and severe psychological distress. This study evaluated the efficacy of compassion-focused therapy (CFT) in reducing parental burnout, self-criticism, and psychological distress among mothers of children with ASD.

A pretest-posttest experimental design with a waitlist control group and a 3-month follow-up was employed. The target population consisted of mothers of children with ASD attending rehabilitation centers, psychology clinics, and autism associations in Ahvaz, Iran, in 2025. Using purposive sampling, 64 eligible mothers were recruited and randomly assigned to the experimental or control group (n = 32 per group). The experimental group received eight weekly 70-min CFT sessions, while the control group received no intervention. Data were collected using the Gilliam Autism Rating Scale-Third Edition (GARS-3), Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA), Forms of Self-Criticising/Attacking and Self-Reassuring Scale (FSCRS), and 21-item Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21).

Repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant main effects of time and group, along with significant time-by-group interactions across all variables. At posttest, CFT significantly reduced parental burnout, self-criticism, and psychological distress in the experimental group compared with the control group (p<.01). These gains were maintained at the 3-month follow-up, demonstrating the intervention's enduring efficacy.

The findings indicate that CFT is an effective intervention for alleviating these psychological burdens. Integrating CFT into family support programs is strongly recommended to enhance the long-term psychological well-being of mothers raising children with ASD.