Depression and psychological help-seeking attitude among Turkish mothers of children with autism: problem-focused coping as a mediator

Studies demonstrate that mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience depression and are less likely to seek professional psychological help. This study examined the roles of coping strategies in predicting psychological help-seeking attitudes among mothers of children with ASD. A total of 250 Turkish mothers of children with autism were recruited using purposive sampling during their training at the autism center in Istanbul. The results showed that depression was positively associated with problem-focused coping and negatively associated with psychological help-seeking attitudes. Psychological help-seeking attitudes and problem-focused coping were positively correlated with avoidant coping. Mediation analysis demonstrated that problem-solving plays a mediating role in the relationship between depression and psychological help-seeking attitudes. When addressing the psychological help-seeking attitudes of mothers of children with autism, future prevention and intervention programs may have to take into account mothers’ depressive symptoms, and how they view and cope with depression and challenges related to parenting their child with autism.