Background: Managing a child with autism is a difficult task that must be done daily. It
has a huge impact on the child's well-being, the mental state of the parent, and their capacity to
provide for their children. Recognizing the difficulties that parents face will open new avenues for
research and the development of interventions. Aim: Evaluate the effect of nursing intervention
program on psychosocial problems among family caregivers of children with autism spectrum
disorder. Design: A quasi experimental design for one group (pre/post-test) was used. Setting:
This study was carried out at the outpatient clinic of El Abbassia Psychiatric and Mental Health
Hospital. Sampling: The study involved 75 family caregivers of children with autism spectrum
disorder. Data Collection Tools: Four tools were used: Tool (I) Structured Interview
questionnaire, Tool (II) Parenting Stress Index, Tool (III) Zarit Burden interviewing questionnaire
for family caregivers, and Tool (IV) Explanatory Model Interview Catalogue-Community Stigma
Scale. Results: This study shows that highly statistically significant differences were found
between pre/post-program implementation in total levels of parenting stress, burden, and
community stigma. In addition, there was a highly statistically significant correlation between
total scores of parent stress, burden, and community stigma during the pre/post-program
implementation phase (P≤ 0.001). Conclusion: Nursing intervention program has a significant
positive effect on reduce psychosocial problems among family caregivers of children with autism
spectrum disorder. Recommendations: Generate and manage nursing care plans for caregivers of
children with autism spectrum disorder should focus on their child's psychiatric mental health
aspect and provide caregivers with sufficient social support |
