The Effect of Group Compassion-Focused Therapy on Shame and Distress Tolerance of Mothers of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Objectives The care of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) pose a significant challenge for parents, especially mothers as their primary caregivers. Mothers of ASD children often feel shame and low psychological distress. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of group compassion-focused therapy on shame and distress tolerance of mothers of children with ASD. Methods This is a quasi-experimental study with pre-test/post-test/follow-up design. The study population of consists of all mothers of children with ASD in Tehran, Iran, covered by the Iran Autism Association. The samples were selected using convenience and snowball sampling methods. Thirty mothers were randomly assigned to two groups of 15, including intervention and control. The internalized shame scale by Cook (1993), the Others as Shamer Scale by Goss (1994), and the Distress Tolerance Scale by Simons and Gaher (2005) were completed by both groups at pre-test, post-test, and one-month follow-up phases. The intervention group received eight one-hour sessions of group compassion-focused therapy. The data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA in SPSS version 28. Results The group compassion-focused therapy had a significant effect on reducing internalized shame, external shame, and increasing distress tolerance (P<0.01). The intervention had the greatest effect on distress tolerance with an effect size of 0.571, followed by internalized shame and external shame with effect sizes of 0.419 and 0.417, respectively. Conclusion The group compassion-focused therapy can reduce shame and improve distress tolerance of mothers of children with ASD.