ArticleJMIR mental health2021
The Efficacy of WeChat-Based Parenting Training on the Psychological Well-being of Mothers With Children With Autism During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Quasi-Experimental Study.
Article in JMIR mental health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of Telehealth Care Interventions for Women's Mental Health During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Pooled it
- Online interventions for the mental health and well-being of parents of children with additional needs: Systematic review and meta-analysis.Australian occupational therapy journal · 2025Pooled it
- Parenting Interventions During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review of the Rationales, Process, Feasibility, Acceptability, and Impacts of Adaptation.Trauma, violence & abuse · 2024Pooled it
- Effects of Mozart-Orff parent-child music therapy among mothers and their preschool children with autism spectrum disorder: A mixed-methods randomised controlled trial.BMC pediatrics · 2024Trial
- Improving Parental Health Literacy in Primary Caregivers of 0- to 3-Year-Old Children Through a WeChat Official Account: Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2024Trial
- Article
- Digital health interventions targeting psychological health in parents of children with autism spectrum disorder: a scoping review.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Effectiveness of Online Parent Training for Vietnamese Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.Yonago acta medica · 2024Article
- Transforming and facilitating health care delivery through social networking platforms: evidences and implications from WeChat.JAMIA open · 2024Review
- Mental health and psychosocial interventions to limit the adverse psychological effects of disasters and emergencies in China: a scoping review.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2024Article
- Implications for implementation and adoption of telehealth in developing countries: a systematic review of China's practices and experiences.NPJ digital medicine · 2023Review
- Metaverse-based social skills training programme for children with autism spectrum disorder to improve social interaction ability: an open-label, single-centre, randomised controlled pilot trial.EClinicalMedicine · 2023Article
- Risks to Child Development and School Readiness Among Children Under Six in Pakistan: Findings from a Nationally Representative Phone Survey.International journal of early childhood = Revue internationale de l'enfance prescolaire = Revista internacional de la infancia pre-escolar · 2023Article
- Parents' understanding and attitudes toward the use of the WeChat platform for postoperative follow-up management of children with congenital heart disease.Journal of cardiothoracic surgery · 2023Article
- Community lung health service design for COPD patients in China by the Breathe Well group.NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2022Article
- A Pediatrician's Guide to Working with Children on the Autism Spectrum in Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Beyond: Retrospect and Prospect.Advances in pediatrics · 2022Review
- Development and Application of a Metaverse-Based Social Skills Training Program for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder to Improve Social Interaction: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2022Article
- Social Networking Services as a Tool for Support of Mothers: A Literature Review.Women's health reports (New Rochelle, N.Y.) · 2022Review
- WeChat-platform-based education and care program as a candidate approach to relieve anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder in parents of pediatric and adolescent patients with osteosarcoma.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- Community-based interventionFrontiers in public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, special education schools for children in most areas of China were closed between the end of January and the beginning of June in 2020. The sudden interruption in schooling and the pandemic itself caused parents to be anxious and even to panic. Mobile-based parenting skills education has been demonstrated to be an effective method for improving the psychological well-being of mothers with children with autism. However, whether it can improve the psychological states of mothers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic is a subject that should be urgently investigated.
objectiveThe aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of WeChat-based parenting training on anxiety, depression, parenting stress, and hope in mothers with children with autism, as well as the feasibility of the program during the COVID-19 pandemic.
methodsThis was a quasi-experimental trial. A total of 125 mothers with preschool children with autism were recruited in January 2020. The participants were assigned to the control group (n=60), in which they received routine care, or the intervention group (n=65), in which they received the 12-week WeChat-based parenting training plus routine care, according to their preferences. Anxiety, depression, parenting stress, hope, satisfaction, and adherence to the intervention were measured at three timepoints: baseline (T0), postintervention (T1), and a 20-week follow-up (T2).
resultsIn total, 109 mothers completed the T1 assessment and 104 mothers completed the T2 assessment. The results of the linear mixed model analysis showed statistically significant group × time interaction effects for the intervention on anxiety (F=14.219, P<.001), depression (F=26.563, P<.001), parenting stress (F=68.572, P<.001), and hope (F=197.608, P<.001). Of all mothers in the intervention group, 90.4% (48.8/54) reported that they were extremely satisfied with the WeChat-based parenting training. In total, 40.0% (26/65) logged their progress in home training each week and 61.5% (40/65) logged their progress more than 80% of the time for all 20 weeks.
conclusionsThe WeChat-based parenting training is acceptable and appears to be an effective approach for reducing anxiety, depression, and parenting stress, as well as increasing hope in mothers with children with autism during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Future studies with rigorous designs and longer follow-up periods are needed to further detect the effectiveness of the WeChat-based parenting training.
trial registrationChinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2000031772; http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=52165.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.