Effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on hope and distress tolerance in mothers of children with physical-motor disabilities

Having a disabled child can be associated with experiencing negative emotions in the parents, including their mothers. Such negative emotions may include guilt, shame, sadness, anxiety and worry, anger and tension, and despair. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on hope and distress tolerance in mothers of children with physical-motor disabilities.

The research method was semi-experimental with pre-test, post-test, and follow-up with a control group. The statistical population was comprised of all mothers of children with physical-motor disabilities who referred to schools for physically disabled children in Tehran during April to July 2019. Purposive sampling was used to select 30 female subjects who were then randomly assigned to the experimental (n = 15) and control groups (n = 15). In the pre-test stage, Adult Hope Scale and Distress Tolerance Scale were administered. Afterwards, the experimental group was treated for 8 sessions while the control group did not receive any intervention. Finally, both groups participated in post-test and follow-up (3 months). Repeated measures analysis of variance was used to analyze the data.

The results showed a significant difference between the experimental and control groups after the treatment. Consequently, the mean score of hope and distress tolerance in the experimental group increased compared to the control group (P <0.001).

Based on the findings, it can be concluded that acceptance and commitment therapy is effective in improving hope and distress tolerance in mothers of children with physical-motor disabilities.