Empowering Exceptional Children

Empowering Exceptional Children

The Effectiveness of Schema Therapy on Perceived Social Support and Meta-Emotion in Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
saiedeh Hammami 1
nafiseh khodadadi 2
1 Master’s Degree, Department of Clinical Psychology, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Iran.
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Iran. Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Maaref and Quran and Atrat university.
10.22034/ceciranj.2026.560018.2005
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of schema therapy on perceived social support and meta-emotion in mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The study employed a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistical population comprised all mothers of children with ASD in Zarrin Shahr during the 2024-2025 academic year. Out of this population, 30 mothers were selected using purposive sampling and randomly assigned in equal numbers to either the experimental or control group. The schema therapy program was delivered to the experimental group in eight 90-minute sessions, while the control group received no intervention. Participants were evaluated using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) by Zimet et al. and the Meta-Emotion Scale (MES) by Mitmansgruber et al. The collected data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) via SPSS-27. The findings indicated that schema therapy significantly improved the total score of perceived social support and the subscale of significant others’ support (P<.05); however, it failed to significantly improve the subscales of family support and friend support (P>.05). Additionally, the intervention significantly improved the positive meta-emotion dimension along with its subscales of suppression and compassion (P<.05). Nonetheless, this therapeutic approach did not lead to a significant improvement in the negative meta-emotion dimension or the subscales of anger, shame, thought control, and interest (P>.05). Consequently, it can be concluded that schema therapy is effective in enhancing positive meta-emotion dimensions and perceived social support in mothers of children with ASD.
Keywords
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Meta-Emotion
Perceived Social Support
Schema Therapy
Subjects
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  • Receive Date 13 December 2025
  • Revise Date 29 May 2026
  • Accept Date 06 July 2026