Self-Compassion as a Mediating Variable Between Social Stigma and Mindful Parenting among Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

The study aimed at recognizing the relationship between the study variables (social stigma, self-compassion, mindful parenting) and recognizing the mediating role of self-compassion between social stigma and mindful parenting. It also aimed at revealing the direct and indirect effects between the study variables. The main sample which was parents of children with autism spectrum disorder, consisted of 149 one (60 fathers and 89 mothers). Their ages ranged between (27-48) years (with an average age of 36.42, Sd 6.22). To achieve that, two scales were prepared: social stigma and self-compassion, and another scale of mindful parenting which was prepared by McCaffrey et al. (2017) was translated and modified. The results revealed that there is a statistically significant negative correlation between social stigma and self-compassion, while there is a statistically significant positive correlation between self-compassion and mindful parenting. There is also a statistically significant negative correlation between social stigma and mindful parenting. The suggested constructivist model reveals that self-compassion mediates between social stigma and mindful parenting which is consistent with the data of the study sample. There is also a direct and indirect causal effect of the study variables as explained in the body of the study. In the light of that, the results were discussed, and some recommendations and suggested research were drawn.