The mediator role of belief in a just world on the relationship between perceived social support and burnout of caregivers who have child with autism spectrum disorder

Objective: The main purpose of this study is to examine the mediating role of belief in a just world on the relationship between perceived social support and burnout of individuals who have child with autism spectrum disorder. In addition, it was also examined whether the findings about perceived social support, belief in a just world and burnout differ according to sociodemographic variables. Method: 345 participants who are caring for children between the ages of 6 and 18 with a diagnosis of autism participated in the study. The data were collected using the Sociodemographic Characteristics Form, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), Belief In a Just World Scale (BJWS) and the Short Form of the Burnout Measure (BMS). Two sub-dimensions of the just world belief scale, personal and general, were handled in the analysis process. Results: According to the results obtained in the study, it was observed that when the social support perceived of caregivers increased, their personal/general beliefs in the just world increased and their burnout decreased, and when the personal/general beliefs in the just world of caregivers increased, their burnout decreased. It has been found that personal/general belief in the just world has a partial mediator effect on the relationship between the perceived social support of caregivers and their burnout. In addition, caregiver's perceived social support, personal/general beliefs in the just world and burnout were determined that the education level of the caregiver, the age of the child, the gender of the child, the school attendance of the child, the autism level of child and the degree of affinity of the caregiver, differed according to some sociodemographic variables. Conclusion: It is thought that this study provides significant benefit to the literature due to the fact that the specified variables of the study have been studied in limited studies in the literature. Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Perceived Social Support, Personal/General Belief In a Just World, Burnout, Caring