Effects of acceptance and commitment therapy on decreasing anxiety and depression symptoms in mothers of hearing-impaired or deaf children

The presence of a child with hearing impairment in the family is often problematic and needs psychological interventions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on the symptoms of anxiety and depression in mothers of hearing-impaired or deaf children. This is a quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest design and with experimental and control groups. The study population comprised all mothers of hearing-impaired or deaf children of 2–6 years old in Tabriz City, Iran. Using purposive sampling method, 32 mothers of hearing-impaired or deaf children were selected and then randomly assigned to control and experimental groups (each with 16 subjects). The experimental group was treated with ACT during 8 sessions of 1.5 hours long in two weeks. The study data were collected by the depression anxiety stress scale. ACT was effective in decreasing anxiety and depression symptoms in mothers of hearing-impaired or deaf children (p < 0.05). Considering the results and effectiveness of ACT in reducing the symptoms of anxiety and depression in mothers of hearing-impaired or deaf children, this treatment is recommended in rehabilitation centers for children with hearing problems.