The "Skippu-Mama" peer support program was developed to improve quality of life and reduce parental stress in mothers of children with autism spectrum disorders. The program was designed to improve these variables by refreshing and healing participants' minds and bodies. Twenty-four mothers of 26 children diagnosed with ASD in Japan were included in the study and completed measures of quality of life and parental stress before, during, and after participation in the Skippu-Mama program. Our results demonstrated that time was a significant main effect. Further, multiple comparisons with Bonferroni corrections indicated a significant increase in World Health Organization Quality of Life 26 scores three months into the program and at its conclusion six months after commencement. Overall, the Skippu-Mama program improved the quality of life of mothers of children with ASD, and we believe that the intervention's focus on both individual and family variables may be especially effective in this population.

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It is important that healthcare providers understand the difference between the fathers' and mothers' worries about their child with a cleft lip and palate. Specific support services should be offered to fathers with a high level of resilience, in terms of the acceptance of reality and problem-solving, which could increase their parenting ability.

The psychological well-being of the siblings of hospitalized children is at risk. This study examined the variables related to siblings’ internalizing problems and personal growth during hospitalization from the perspectives of mothers and other main caregivers who temporarily assumed the main caregiver role to the siblings of hospitalized children in place of mothers in the period of children’s hospitalization. A cross-sectional, exploratory survey conducted in Japan examined 113 mothers’ and 90 other main caregivers’ perspectives regarding the psychological state of 2- to 18-year-old siblings of hospitalized children. Mothers and/or other main caregivers of siblings during their brothers’ or sisters’ hospitalization completed the Child Behavior Checklist and the Siblings’ Personal Growth Scale. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed with Child Behavior Checklist internalizing problems and total Siblings’ Personal Growth Scale scores as dependent variables for mothers’ and caregivers’ perspectives. From mothers’ perspectives, environmental factors that change with hospitalization affected siblings. From the perspectives of the other main caregivers, children’s and families’ demographic factors affected siblings’ psychological state. Frequency of e-mail contact between mothers and siblings, explanation of the hospitalized child’s condition, and hospital visitation rules (F = 5.88, P = .001) explained 12.3% of variance in mothers’ Siblings’ Personal Growth Scale scores. Among other main caregivers, 11.6% of variance in the Child Behavior Checklist scores was explained by hospitalized children’s birth order and main caregiver’s prehospitalization residence (F = 5.51, P = .006). Results suggest that the perceived variables related to siblings’ psychological changes differ between mothers and other main caregivers.

Research has increasingly focused on psychosocial issues among siblings of children with paediatric cancer, and other chronic illnesses or disabilities, including neurological disorders and autism spectrum disorders (