Fahimeh Mousavi Najafi - Faculty of Education & Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Isfahan, Iran
Fatemeh Rasouli Jazi - Faculty of Education & Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Isfahan, Iran

Background: The children’s acute and chronic psychological and physicaldiseases cause their mothers’ mental health. Therefore, the objective of thepresent study was to investigate the effect of spirituality therapy on socialstigma and worry in the mothers of the children with autism.Methods: It was a quasi-experimental study with pretest, posttest, controlgroup and two-month follow-up period design. The statistical populationincluded the mothers of the children with autism visiting the autism centers inthe city of Isfahan in the last three months of the lunar year 1396. Convenientsampling method and random replacement were used in the present study in away that 40 mothers were selected from the ones with children with autismand they were randomly replaced into experimental and control groups (20 ineach group). The experimental group received eight ninety-minute sessionsof spirituality therapy interventions during two months. The appliedquestionnaires included Social Stigma Questionnaire and WorryQuestionnaire. The data of the study were analyzed through repeatedmeasures ANOVA and SPSS 23.Results: Results showed that spirituality therapy has influenced social stigma(f = 18.81, P < 0.0001) and worry (f = 24.84, P < 0.0001) in the mothers ofthe children with autism.Conclusion: According to the findings of the present study, it can beconcluded that spirituality therapy using techniques such as knowing valuesand deep belief in God can decrease social stigma and worry in the mothersof the children with autism.

Autistic Disorder, Social Stigma, Spirituality Therapy, Test Anxiety Scale, Mothers