Psychological Empowerment Strategies among Mothers of Autistic Children
Keywords:
psychological empowerment strategies, autism, mothers of autistic childrenAbstract
The current research aimed to identify psychological empowerment strategies among mothers of autistic children. The current research identified mothers of autistic children in the city of Baghdad whose children with autism are present in the institutes and centers of autism as (Baghdad Autism Center, Al-Nahal Institute for Autism Care, Rami Institute for Autism, and Basma Amal Center for Autism). The number of them is (130) mothers of autistic children for the academic year 2022-2023, for the purpose of verifying the goal of the research, the researcher built a measurement of psychological empowerment strategies. Considering the definition, provided by the researcher for the item “psychological empowerment strategies”, four strategies for psychological empowerment were identified, and these strategies are: 1- Proper thinking. 2- Dialogue skills. 3-Emotion control. 4- Decision making. The measurement may consist of (38) items. The researcher also extracted the validity and reliability of the measurement, and after applying the measurement to members of the research sample, the data was analyzed and processed statistically using the statistical program (SPSS). The research reached to the following results: 1- There are no significant differences in the strategy of proper thinking; 2- There are no significant differences in the strategy of dialogue skills; 3- There are no significant differences in the strategy of emotion control; 4-There are no significant differences in the strategy of decision-making.
References
P. A., Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association, 2000.
A. F. L. Abdel Fattah, “The direct and indirect effects of psychological empowerment, self-compassion, and academic perseverance among students in the first and second grades in the general secondary stage,” Faculty of Education, Assiut University, vol. 34, no. 12, p. 1, 2018.
A. K. Abdel Fattah, “The psychological empowerment of women in patriarchal culture,” Int. J. Women’s Children’s Stud., vol. 2, no. 4, 2022.
A. A. L. Abu Asaad, “The effectiveness of a counseling program based on psychological empowerment in improving life satisfaction and hope among middle school students with broken families in Karak Gover-norate,” J. Educ. Sci. Stud., Jordan, vol. 44, pp. 149-164, 2017.
J. M. A. Al-Araj, “Social stigma and its relationship to future anxiety and social isolation among mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder in Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate,” Master’s Thesis, Al-Quds Open University, 2022.
R. I. Al-Azzawi, “Measuring the psychological empowerment of secondary school teachers,” J. Educ. Psychol. Sci., vol. 2, no. 6, pp. 323-354, 2022.
M. A. R. Al-Sahma, “Patterns of emotional attachment as a predictor of self-compassion among parents of children with autism spectrum disorder,” Arab J. Disabil. Gifted Sci., vol. 4, no. 10, pp. 99-138, 2020.
R. S. Al-Tamimi and A. S. Nasser, “Abnormal birthmarks in autistic children,” Yearb. Childhood Motherhood Res. Center, vol. 11, 2017.
F. A. Amer, “Psychological Empowerment among Kindergarten Teachers,” Al-Fath J. Educ. Psychol. Res., vol. 27, no. 3, 2022.
T. Amer, The Autistic Child, 1st ed. Jordan: Dar Al-Yarouzi, 2008.
B. Bozkur and Ü. Yetim, “The effect of Feminist Therapy-Based Group Counseling program on women’s psychological empowerment and internalized sexism,” Arch. Women’s Ment. Health, vol. 27, pp. 77-87, 2024.
H. Dreher, The Immune power personality. USA: Adutton Book, 1995.
J. Hassan, “The predictive value of psychological empowerment in self-regulation among a sample of secondary school students,” Doctoral Dissertation, Faculty of Education, Helwan University, 2021.
D. Z. Lahlouhi and H. Belkhiri, “Job satisfaction and psychological empowerment, relationship and impact,” Master’s Thesis, Faculty of Economic and Commercial Sciences, Algeria, 2022.
M. M. Mustafa and M. A. Taha, “Self-advocacy and female students’ perceptions of fair classes as variables predictive of the psychological empowerment of female university students,” J. Faculty Educ., Al-Azhar Univ., vol. 162, no. 2, pp. 1-82, 2015.
M. A. A. Okyireh and K. N. Simpeh, “Exploring the Nature of Psychological Empowerment of Women En-trepreneurs in a Rural Setting in Greater Accra, Ghana,” J. Bus. Manag. Sci., vol. 4, no. 6, pp. 138-141, 2016.
L. B. Patterson, “Fostering strengths in incarcerated youth: the development of a measure of psychological empowerment in Oregon youth authority correctional facilities,” Master’s Thesis, Portland State University, 2013.
A. H. Perry, “Effect of demographic factors on empowerment attributions of parents of children with au-tistic spectrum disorders,” Doctoral Dissertation, The University of Alabama, 2013.
W. A. Randolph and M. Sashkin, “Can organizational empowerment work in multinational settings?,” Acad. Manag. Exec., vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 102-115, 2002.
S. M. Salem and A. A. Cavafy, “Sixth International Conference (Rehabilitation of People with Special Needs), (Monitoring Reality and Orienting the Future),” Inst. Educ. Stud., Egypt, pp. 844-865, July 16-17, 2008.
R. Singh, “Psychological Empowerment of Women: A Root to All The Development,” Innov. Res. Concept, vol. 7, no. 9, 2022.
G. M. Spreitzer, “Psychological Empowerment in the Workplace: Dimensions, Measurement, and Valida-tion,” Acad. Manag. J., vol. 38, no. 5, pp. 1442-1465, 1995.
S. H. Kinnear, “Understanding the Experience of Stigma for Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and the Role Stigma Plays in Families Lives,” J. Autism Dev. Disord., pp. 492-953, 2016.
P.-A. Tengland, “Empowerment: A Conceptual Discussion,” Health Care Anal., vol. 16, pp. 77-96, 2008.
S. R. M. Theeb, “Designing a training program to develop communication and social skills and self-independence among autistic children and measuring its effectiveness,” Doctoral Dissertation, Univer-sity of Jordan, College of Graduate Studies, 2004.
