Cognitive Distortions and Lifestyles among Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the City of Irbid

Abstract

This study aimed to identify cognitive distortions and lifestyles of mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder in the city of Irbid. The study sample consisted of (151) mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder, and they were selected by the available method. To achieve the objectives of the study, a scale of cognitive distortions and a scale of life styles were developed. Their validity and reliability were verified. The results showed that the arithmetic averages of the fields of cognitive distortions for mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder came in the following order, where: the "bipolar" field came in the first place and amounted to (3.00), while the field of "selective abstraction" came in the last place and amounted to (2.34). The results also showed that the arithmetic averages of the domains of lifestyles of mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder in the "cooperating" domain came in the first place and at a "high" level (4.04), while the "avoidant" domain came in the last rank with an "average" arithmetic mean, which reached (2.45).

The results also revealed that there were statistically significant differences in the field of "self-blame", and the differences were in favor of the age of less than 35 years. And there were statistically significant differences in the field of "selective abstraction" because of the mother's job, and the differences came in favor of the working mother. The results showed that there were no statistically significant differences because of the educational level of the mother and the number of children in the family in all areas of cognitive distortions. The results also showed the presence of statistically significant differences in the “dominant” domain, and the differences were in favor of the age of less than 35 years. The results also showed that there were no statistically significant differences (α = 0.05) because of the mother's educational level, the number of children within the family, and the mother's job in all areas of lifestyles. While the results showed a positive, statistically significant relationship between cognitive distortions and each of the "dominant, avoidant, and dependent" lifestyles, and there was no statistically significant relationship between cognitive distortions and the cooperative lifestyle.

Keywords: cognitive distortions, lifestyles, mothers, autism spectrum disorder.