The Effectiveness of Positive Psychology on Caregiver Burden and Self-Criticism in Mothers of Children with Mild Intellectual Disabilities

A considerable percentage of families in Iran have children with intellectual disabilities who have various problems, including sleep disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), aggression, self-injury, and personality disorders. This study investigates the effectiveness of positive psychology on caregiver burden and self-criticism in mothers of children with mild intellectual disabilities.

This is a semi-experimental study that includes a pre-test post-test control group design with follow-up. The study population includes all mothers of children with mild intellectual disabilities who were studying in special needs schools in Qaem Shahr province from 2018 to 2019. A total of 30 subjects were selected through purposeful sampling and randomly divided into the control group (n=15) and the experimental group (n=15). Eight 90-minute sessions of intervention were conducted with the experimental group. The control group received no intervention. The data were collected by applying the multidimensional caregiver burden inventory by Novak and Cast (1989), and the levels of self-criticism scale by Tampson and Zarof (2004). Data were analyzed by SPSS 22 using the repeated-measures analyses of variance (ANOVA).

The findings showed that positive psychology was associated with reduced caregiver burden dimensions (P>0.001) (F2.27=25.791) and self-criticism dimensions (P>0.001) (F2.27=29.465) in mothers of children with intellectual disabilities. Except for comparative self-criticism, the consistency of treatment was observed with other variables in the follow-up.

Through the use of positive psychology interventions, the mothers were able to change their attitudes toward multiple issues, including negative emotions, unpleasant emotions, and self-determination, leading to a reduction in caregiver burden and self-criticism.