Investigation of Quality of Life Determinants Among Mothers of Children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders in Iran

SummaryObjective/BackgroundThe objective of the study was to examine the association between socio-economic status (SES), marital satisfaction, and subtypes of pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs) with quality of life (QOL) in mothers of children with PDDs.MethodsThe study was conducted using a convenience sample of 210 mothers of children with PDDs. Data were collected using the World Health Organization QOL-BREF, Index of Marital Satisfaction, and SES Questionnaires. Data analysis was done by analysis of variance and multivariate analysis of variance tests.ResultsThe findings of the study showed that SES is associated strongly with the environmental domain (p < .001, r2 = .421), marital satisfaction with the social domain (p < .001, r2 = .394), and PDDs' subtype with the psychological domain (p < .001, r2 = .283). Mothers of children with autistic disorder subtype reported lower QOL in all domains compared with other subtypes (p < .05).ConclusionThe determinants such as SES, marital satisfaction, and subtypes of PDDs have an important influence on QOL of mothers of children with PDDs. Further investigation in this regard is warranted.