Involvement of Emotional Intelligence in Resilience and Coping in Mothers of Autistic Children

In a context described as a challenge in parenting (having an autistic child), we sought to highlight the emotional skills that mothers gain as a result of interacting with their child, and how they then use these skills. Mothers of autistic children (n = 136) and mothers of non-autistic children (n = 139) responded to emotional intelligence, resilience, and coping scales. Comparisons revealed smaller differences between groups than expected. Nevertheless, mothers of autistic children showed greater resilience abilities than mothers of non-autistic children. Moreover, we noted differences between both groups regarding their use of emotional skills. Emotional intelligence is a resource that deserves to be explored in terms of its clinical implications, especially among the parents of autistic children.