Training based on gratitude on meaning of life of mothers of deaf children

Given that among family members of children with hearing impairment, most mothers are responsible for raising their children. Thus, they can be expected to experience various psychological problems, one of which is a low or lack of meaning in life. However, if mothers, as the heart of the family, experience higher psychological well-being with a grasp of the meaning of life, they can provide their children with rich experiences. Different approaches have been developed to deal with this problem, one of the most recent of which is training based on gratitude. Training based on gratitude interventions is expected to result in more positive psychological adjustment and functioning of persons with different clinical problems such as adaptation, health, positive relationships, well-being and psychological and humanistic functions Accordingly, this study investigated the effect of training based on gratitude on meaning of life of mothers of children with hearing impairment between 13-7 years old in Isfahan-Iran. The study employed a pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental design the study population included all mothers of children with hearing impairment in special education schools in the city of Isfahan. Convenience sampling was used to recruit 22 mothers of children with hearing impairment aged 13-7 years old. The participants were assigned to experimental and control groups in equal numbers. The experimental group received training in gratitude based training in 90 minute sessions for 8 weeks. The control group received no training. The Meaning of Life Questionnaire (Astgr et al., 2006) was used as a measure for evaluating the existence of meaning and the search for meaning in life, for the pre-, post- and follow-up tests. Repeated measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the research hypotheses. The results of repeated measures analysis of variance showed significant differences between experimental group and the control group in terms of total scores of the meaning of life, existing meaning in life and the search for meaning in life (p<0.05). Follow-up paired was comparison revealed no difference in the scores (p<0.05). It may be concluded that appreciating that education based on gratitude can be effective in the sense of the life of mothers of children with hearing impairment. In other words, the people whose lives are more meaningful are able to withstand adverse conditions, which makes them the psychologically well-being.