Effect of mobile parenting skills education on anxiety of the mothers with autistic children.

BACKGROUND: The parents of autistic children suffer from anxiety and tension. Unawareness of parenting skills required for autistic children (parenting) doubles their anxiety. Researchers have recently considered research on mobile education, especially mobile text messages. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of mobile parenting skills education on the anxiety of mothers with autistic children.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a clinical trial conducted on 64 mothers of children suffering from autism who had a medical file. The participants were recruited by convenient sampling in selected autism centers in Isfahan, Iran. Then, the participants were randomly assigned into two 32-subject groups of study and control. Spielberger Anxiety Inventory was adopted for the mothers. The book "Parenting skills for the mothers with autistic children" was distributed in the study and control group, and then, the study group underwent a structured mobile text messages education. Sixty text messages were sent daily to the participants in the study group for two months. Data were analyzed by Mann-Whitney, Chi-square, independent t-test, and paired t-test using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 16.

RESULTS: The obtained results showed a significant decrease in mothers' anxiety mean score after intervention in the study group compared to control group (P = 0.04). There was also a significant reduction in mothers' anxiety mean score after intervention, compared to before intervention (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: Mobile parenting skills education, especially through text messages, could reduce the level of anxiety among the mothers with autistic children.