Family quality of life and psychological flexibility in parents with children with and without autism spectrum disorder

This research is a correlational survey study examining the family quality of life perceptions and psychological flexibility levels of parents who have children with and without autism spectrum disorder. The aim of the study is to examine whether there is a significant difference between family quality of life and psychological flexibility of parents who have children with and without autism spectrum disorder. The study group of the research consists of 278 parents who have children with and without autism spectrum disorder between the age of 0-18 living in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. In the study, "Beach Center Family Quality of Life Scale" was used to measure parents' perceptions of family quality of life, "Parent Personal Information Form" to obtain information on socio-demographic characteristics, and "Psychological Flexibilty Scale" was used to measure psychological flexibility levels. In the analysis of the research data, firstly descriptive statistics were made, and normality assumptions were checked. Then, T-test for Independent Groups and Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient were calculated. When the findings of the study were examined; family quality of life total score and all sub-dimensions, psychological flexibility total score and all sub-dimensions were found to be significantly lower in favor of parents who have children with autism spectrum disorder. In addition, it was determined that there is a positive and significant relationship between psychological flexibility and family quality of life in parents. The findings obtained from the research were discussed within the framework of the literature and suggestions were made. Keywords: psychological flexibility, family quality of life, autism spectrum disorder, parent