In parents of autistic children there are high levels of stress. For parents, counseling can help them face the world of autism through the many stressors they experiment.

To evidence a possible effect of the counseling intervention on parental stress.

The sample consisted of 24 parents (mean age=38.7) of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder related to the treatment centre “Una breccia nel muro”. Parents’ group was randomly divided into two subgroups, the first (EG experimental group) consists in 12 parents, which were included in a counseling treatment of six months (one meeting of 2hours every 15days), while the other subgroup parents, (CG control group) were not included. We used parenting stress index–short form (PSI-SF) before counseling intervention (T0) and after (T1) with every parent. PSI values stress level in following scales: parental distress (PD), parent-child dysfunctional interaction (PCDI) and difficult child characteristics (DC). Fig. 1 shows all the variables in each group at T0 and T1.

Then a 2-tail t-test was separately carried out for each group (Counseling Yes; Counseling No). Counseling Yes: PD (t₂₂=.70, P= .49); PCDI (t₂₂=.72, P=.47); DC (t₂₂=2.23, P=.03); Tot Stress (t₂₂=1.04, P=.3). Counseling No: PD (t₂₂=.82, P=.42); PCDI (t₂₂=1.7, P=.09); DC (t₂₂=.59, P=.56); Tot Stress (t₂₂=.72, P=.48)

Our data confirm the positive effects of counseling especially on the difficulties related to children (DC scale).