Abstract
Parents of children with autism experience high stress levels. According to the literature,
music, a widely used stress management tool, has not been used by researchers in an attempt
to help parents with the stress that accompanies having a child with autism. The purpose of
this study was to examine the effects of a supportive music and imagery experience on
coping with stress among mothers of children with autism. One mother of a child with autism
underwent one single supportive music and imagery session. She was also instructed to
practice the technique daily for two weeks. After two weeks, she completed a post-test to
reflect the effects of supportive music and imagery experience on coping with stress. The
Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF) (Abidin, 1995) was used for the pre- and posttests to measure the participant’s stress level. Results showed that the mother’s stress levels
were not significantly changed after the practice of the supportive music and imagery
experiences for two weeks. Recommendations for future research are discussed.
