PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS LEVEL AND AWARENESS OF SOCIAL SKILLS AMONG MOTHERS OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER ACCORDING TO SOME DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES IN THE CITY OF RIYADH.

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) indicates several neurodevelopmental impairments This study aimed to reveal the psychological stress level and awareness of social skills among mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder in the city of Riyadh according to some demographic variables including articulation difficulties of the autistic child, kinship between spouses, whether the child received any intervention or training, the educational level of the mother, and the gender of the autistic child. To achieve the objectives of the study, the comparative descriptive approach was used. The study sample comprised (120 mothers), and they were subjected to the psychological stress scale and the social skills scale for the autistic child, prepared by the researcher after verifying their psychometric properties. The results of the research concluded that the weighted average value of psychological stress among mothers of an autistic child was low, while awareness of social skills was medium; The results also showed that there were no statistically significant differences in the psychological stresses and awareness of social skills among the mothers of the autistic children according to the variables of articulation difficulties (those who have / and those who do not have articulation difficulties); kinship between parents (existing / non-existent), child support (for those whose children received support/or not), the gender of the autistic child (female-male)m social skills of the autistic child according to the variable of the university qualification of the mothers. However, there were differences in psychological stress levels. Mothers with university qualification had higher stress levels; and there were also differences among mothers regarding awareness of social skills. These skills were higher among mothers who have a female child. According to these results a number of recommendations were formulated.