The effects of a parent training program to the parents of children with autism on their interpersonal relationship skills, problem solving skills and their perceptions about their children with autism

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of the parent training program applied to the parents of children with autism, on their interpersonal relationship skills, their problem solving skills and their perceptions about their children with autism.The research design used in this study is a pre-test post-test quasi experimental model. 10 sessions of cognitive-based parent training program were applied to 16 mothers who have children with autism between three to fifteen years old. The study groups consisted of an experimental group, and a control group. In order to assess interpersonal relationships in the family, the Family Structure Assessment Tool (FSAD) and the Marital Adjustment Scale (MAS) were applied, and to measure problem-solving skills, the Problem Solving Inventory (PSI) was applied. The parents? perceptions about their children with autism were measured by using a checklist including autism symptoms and the frequency of percentage of their stress levels related to these symptoms. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS program. For the statistical process of the study one-way covariance analyze is used, and the effect sizes are calculated with ?2. The results of the analysis showed that, the parent training program which is used in this research, considerably improved the interpersonal relationship skills and problem solving skills of parents with children with autism. Moreover, the results showed that, the parent training program decreased the stress levels of parents related to some of the symptoms of autism.Thus, it is suggested that this training program can be used effectively for parents with children with autism.Key words: parent training program, interpersonal relationship, problem solving, marital adjustment, perception about children with autism