Effect of Positive Thinking Education on Social Anxiety and Cognitive Avoidance of Mothers of Children with Specific Learning Disabilities

The presence of a child with a disability or illness is very stressful for parents, and especially for mothers, because they experience tension, feelings of guilt, and fatigue. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of positive thinking skills training on social anxiety and cognitive avoidance of mothers of children with specific learning disabilities. The research method was semi-experimental and one-sample design with pre-test-post-test. The statistical population consisted of all mothers of children with special learning disabilities in Tarom city in 1396, among them 20 children were selected using convenient sampling method. The research instrument was social anxiety Inventory (Connor and et al, 2000) and cognitive avoidance questionnaire (Sexton and Dugas, 2004). Positive thinking was taught in 7 sessions of 120 minutes to experimental group. Data analysis was performed using Cohen's coefficient and Hedges coefficient. Data analysis using Cohen coefficient and g coefficient showed that the scores of the experimental group significantly decreased in the social anxiety and cognitive avoidance compared to the control group scores (p <0.01). Based on the results of this study, positive thinking skills have been effective to improve social anxiety and cognitive avoidance of mothers of children with special learning disabilities by creating mental and positive schema.