International Journal of Public Health Science (IJPHS)
Vol 14, No 2: June 2025

The effect of psychoeducation on parents of autistic children in Malaysia

Ling, Lee Jye (Unknown)
Teng, Crendy Tan Yen (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
01 Jun 2025

Abstract

Parents have reported a lack of support from professionals in Malaysia, which results in a lack of knowledge in supporting their children, leading to negative attitudes towards their child’s condition, a lack of empowerment, and psychological problems. This study aimed to determine the effect of psychoeducation on the knowledge, attitude, empowerment, and psychological well-being of parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The design of this study was true experimental design. The study focused on parents of ASD-diagnosed children aged 2 to 7 years. Nineteen parents participated and were randomly allocated to the intervention group and control group. Pre and post-tests questionnaires assessed knowledge, attitude, psychological well-being, and empowerment. Independent and paired t-tests were used for data analysis. The results showed that there were no significant differences between the control and intervention groups in their knowledge (t(17)=-.186, p=.854), attitude (t(14.9)=1.26, p=.227), psychological wellbeing (t(13.44)=.221, p=.828) and empowerment (t(15.45)=.047, p=.96). There were no significant differences in the pre and post-sessions of the knowledge (t(9)=1, p=.329), attitude (t(9) =.536, p=.605), and psychological well-being (t(9)=.67, p=.521). However, there was a significant difference in the pre and post-session parent’s empowerment (t(9)=-2.5, p=.032). These findings suggest that other interaction factors may affect the effectiveness of psychoeducation sessions in parent’s knowledge, psychological wellbeing, attitude, and empowerment.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

IJPHS

Publisher

Subject

Health Professions

Description

International Journal of Public Health Science (IJPHS) is an interdisciplinary journal that publishes material on all aspects of public health science. This IJPHS provides the ideal platform for the discussion of more sophisticated public health research and practice for authors and readers world ...