Designing a Family-Based Educational Package and Evaluating its Effectiveness in Behavioral Deficiencies in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 M.A in Clinical Psychology, Islamic Azad University of Ardabil Branch, Ardabil, Iran.

2 Professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Iran

10.22098/jrp.2024.14457.1220

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by a range of challenges in social interaction, communication, and repetitive behaviors. The current research was conducted to design family-based educational packages and evaluate their effectiveness in the behavioral deficits of children with ASD. The present research method was semi-experimental and its design was pre-test-post-test with the control group. The population of the study included all the parents of children with ASD who visited ASD treatment centers in Ardabil city in 2020. The study sample includes 40 parents selected using the purposeful sampling method and randomly assigned to experimental (n=20) and control (n=20) groups. The collection tools included a demographic information checklist and a preschool behavioral problem questionnaire Shahim and Yousefi (2008). The experimental group received ten 90-minute family-based educational package sessions, but the control group did not receive any intervention. The data analysis was done by multivariate analysis of covariance and using SPSS-24 software. The results showed that family-based educational packages significantly reduced attention deficit (F=40.51), social interactions (F=37.50), social behavior (F=16.38), management of communication skills (F=17.42), learning disabilities (F=38.32), eye contact (F=39.04), and total behavioral deficiencies (F=122.19) in children with ASD (P<0.001). These results underscore the efficacy of family-based educational interventions as a valuable therapeutic approach for children with ASD. The comprehensive nature of the improvements, spanning attention, social interactions, communication skills, learning, and overall behavior, suggests that such interventions can have a holistic and positive impact on the lives of these children.

Keywords

Journal of Research in Psychopathology

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 13 July 2024

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