Effectiveness of Educational Program on Parenting Stress and Coping Mechanism Among Parents of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder in Amman, Jordan

Background: Health and well being of children are inextricably linked to the physical, emotional and psychological of their parents. Maintaining the health and well-being of parents is a precondition for the best optimal care of their children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The overall aim of the current study is to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational program on parenting stress and coping mechanism among parents of children with ASD in Jordan. Methods: A cluster randomized controlled trial will be conducted in 4 private centers for the treatment of Autistic Disorder in Amman, Jordan. Inclusion criteria: father or mother of a child who diagnosed for the period of three years since the initial time of diagnosis, father or mother who provides care and living together with the child, father or mother has the ability to read and write Arabic, father or mother age above 20 years old,and center provides caring just for ASD child with age 12 years and younger. Exclusion criteria: father or mother whose child had other chronic or illnesses (e.g, type 1 diabetes, down syndrome, learning disabilities, fetal alcohol syndrome), foreign father or mother of a child with ASD residents in Amman, father or mother who previously participated in the intervention research (e.g, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Mindfulness-Based Intervention), father or mother of a child who takes any pharmacologic management of ASD (e.g,Risperdal, Ritalin), father or mother with more than one child diagnosed with ASD,and center doesn't include a suitable classroom for implementing the intervention program. The educational intervention program will deliver to the intervention group as a one-day event in four sessions. Whereas, the control group will receive education about the communicable disease among childhood. With an estimated effect design of 1.3, a cluster size of 4 and 20% non-completion, the trial will need to enroll 200 participants. The primary outcomes of the current study are parenting stress and coping mechanism scores, which will be assessed using the Parent Stress Index-Short Form and Brief COPE, respectively. parenting stress and coping mechanism scores will be assessed at pre-intervention, post-intervention and follow-ups at week 8. Results: The parenting stress and the coping mechanism will be compared between the intervention and control groups using A 2×3 repeated measure ANOVA. Conclusions: Hypothesize that primary outcomes will improve significantly after the intervention compared to the control group. The finding from this study will determine the effectiveness of the educational program on parenting stress and coping mechanism among Jordanian parents of children with ASD. If proven to be effective, the educational program can serve as a part of therapeutic plan support to reduce parenting stress and improve coping mechanism.