Mothers' awareness of autism and psychosocial status of their children

Purpose

This study aimed to examine the autism awareness of mothers with children aged 3–6 years and the psychosocial status of their children.

Design and methods

The descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with 532 mothers who presented between May and July 2022 to family health centers in Turkey. Data were collected using a personal information form, the Autism Awareness of Mothers Scale, and the Psychosocial Status Scale for Children Aged 3–6 Years-Parent Form.

Results

The mothers in the study had a mean age of 32 years, the most and least used sources of information about autism were the internet and scientific resources. On the Autism Awareness of Mothers Scale, the mothers' mean scores were 66.60 total, 44.02 on the behavioral patterns' subscale, and 22.58 on the communication and interaction with the environment subscale. The mean Psychosocial Status Scale for Children Aged 3–6 Years–Parent Form score was 26.23. Mean Autism Awareness of Mothers Scale total scores were significantly higher among mothers who were university graduates, were employed, had higher economic status, had someone with autism in their immediate social circles, and used other information sources besides television (p < 0.05). The study found no relationship between mothers' autism awareness and their children's psychosocial status (p > 0.05).

Conclusion

In this study, we determined that most mothers used the internet, television, and social media as sources of information about autism, while fewer received information from healthcare professionals and scientific resources.

Practice implications

We recommend training programs to raise parental awareness, especially among mothers with lower education and socioeconomic status. Primary healthcare professionals and public service announcements can help spread awareness effectively.