Comparison of emotional malaise, tolerance of ambiguity and social support in children with and without autism

Mahsa Hosseinvand¹ Vakil Nazari²

1) M.A of Clinical Psychology, Ardabil Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ardabil, Iran.
2) Department of Psychology, Ardabil Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ardabil, Iran

IOI Code : XEAE-GCBHF
Publication : 2th National Conference on Psychopathology(asruma2.ir)
Abstract :
    The aim of this study was to compare emotional malaise, tolerance of ambiguity and social support in children with and without autism. The method of this research is causal-comparative (case-control). The statistical population of the present study included all children with autism aged 5 to 10 years, members of the Autism Association and the Welfare Department of Ardabil, as well as normal children in this age group in Ardabil in 2020. The sample size consisted of 60 people (30 children with autism and 30 normal children) who were selected by available sampling method. Sameni Social Support Scale, Toronto Emotional Dysfunction Scale and Ambiguity Tolerance Questionnaire were used to collect data. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) using SPSS20 statistical software. The results showed that there was a significant difference between emotional malaise, tolerance of ambiguity and social support in children with and without autism (p <0.01). So that the average scores of emotional distress and its components in autistic children are higher and the average tolerance of ambiguity and social support and its components are lower than children without autism (p<0.01). The results emphasize the need to pay attention to these variables in children with autism.

Keywords : emotional malaise tolerance of ambiguity social support autism