Abstract: Objective: To analyze the mediating effect of family hardiness on psychological resilience and benefit finding among mothers of preschool children with autism spectrum disorder, and to provide reference for further family interventions. Methods: A total of 205 mothers whose children with autism spectrum disorder received rehabilitation treatment in 4 institutions in Putian city from February 2022 to February 2023 were included by convenience sampling method. The Benefit Finding Scale, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale and Family Hardiness Index were used to collect data. A structural equation model with AMOS 23.0 software was used to analyze the mediating effect. Results: The total scores of benefit finding, psychological resilience and family hardiness in the participants were 65.27±15.41, 54.89±17.04 and 34.98±6.89, respectively, and they were all positively correlated (P<0.001). Family hardiness played a mediating role between psychological resilience and benefit finding, and the mediating effect value was 0.230, accounting for 35.44% of the total effect. Conclusion: Family hardiness partially mediates the impact of psychological resilience on benefit finding in mothers of preschool children with autism spectrum disorder. Positive measures are expected to improve mother's psychological resilience and family hardiness, so as to improve their level of benefit finding.

Key words: autism spectrum disorder; preschool children; mothers; benefit finding; psychological resilience; family hardiness; mediating effect