Shu B-C, Lung F-W
Institute of Allied Health Sciences, Department of Nursing, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, China.
J Intellect Disabil Res. 2005 Jan;49(Pt 1):47-53. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2788.2005.00661.x.
The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of support groups on the mental health and quality of life for mothers with autistic children.
A quasi-experimental pre-post control group design was used in this study. The mothers had children without chronic diseases diagnosed as autistic based on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder-Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) and were their primary caregivers. The mothers were assigned to control or intervention groups based on their willingness. The 10 weeks of the support group programme served as an intervention. There were three waves of data collection: pre-test, post-test, and after 1 month follow-up. A total of 27 mothers with autistic children were assigned into experimental and control groups. In total, there were eight mothers in the experimental group and 19 mothers served as the control group.
The results of this study showed that mental health had not significantly improved in the intervention group compared to those in the control group at the end of the first month during follow-up. However, the subjective well-being and employment status had an effect on their mental health. Only the subjective well-being had an effect on their quality of life.
According to the results of this study, recommendations included (1) regularly promulgating a caregiver support group, (2) the advancement of training skills within the group, and (3) upgrading and promoting nurses' ability to lead support groups in the future.
本研究旨在探讨支持小组对自闭症儿童母亲心理健康和生活质量的影响。
本研究采用准实验前后对照设计。这些母亲的孩子根据《精神疾病诊断与统计手册（第四版）》（DSM-IV）被诊断为患有自闭症且无慢性病，她们是孩子的主要照顾者。母亲们根据自身意愿被分配到对照组或干预组。为期10周的支持小组项目作为干预措施。共进行了三轮数据收集：前测、后测和1个月随访后。共有27名自闭症儿童的母亲被分配到实验组和对照组。实验组共有8名母亲，19名母亲作为对照组。
本研究结果表明，在随访的第一个月末，与对照组相比，干预组的心理健康状况没有显著改善。然而，主观幸福感和就业状况对她们的心理健康有影响。只有主观幸福感对她们的生活质量有影响。
根据本研究结果，建议包括：（1）定期开展照顾者支持小组；（2）提升小组内的培训技能；（3）未来提升并促进护士领导支持小组的能力。
