Effectiveness of the Mindful Motherhood Support Program on Quality of Life Among Palestinian Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Quasi-Experimental Study

TL;DR

A mindfulness program improved the quality of life for Palestinian mothers of children with autism, with benefits lasting six months.

Contribution

Demonstrates the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based support program for mothers of children with autism in the Palestinian context.

Findings

The program significantly improved all domains of quality of life for participating mothers.

Psychological and overall quality of life showed the largest improvements.

Improvements were largely maintained six months after the program ended.

Abstract

Raising a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) presents severe difficulties that adversely affect the mother’s quality of life (QoL). However, very limited research has examined the impacts of support programs on the QoL of mothers of children with ASD in the Palestinian context. This study assesses the effectiveness of Mindful Motherhood, a comprehensive intervention, in improving QoL in this population. A quasi-experimental design was employed, with 56 mothers assigned to experimental or control groups. Quality of Life (QoL) was measured using the WHOQOL-BREF at baseline, post-intervention, and at a six-month follow-up. The 12-week group-based program led to significant improvements in all QoL domains for the experimental group compared to the controls, with the highest effect sizes in psychological (|δ| = 0.70) and overall QoL (|δ| = 0.68) domains; furthermore, these gains were largely sustained at the six-month follow-up assessment. The results are expected to inform policymakers in developing sustainable support systems for mothers and promoting inclusive, family-centered approaches to ASD care in the Palestinian context.