The efficacy of mindfulness-based life skill training on parent-child relationship among parents of children with mild intellectual disability

The role of parents in improving the quality of life of intellectually disabled children is clear completely. Studies show that promoting the life skills of mothers can lead to the well-being and quality of life of these children and their parents. Therefore, conducting controlled research in this field is necessary and has priority.

The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based life skill training on psychological wellbeing and attitudes among parents of mild mentally retarded children.

The research design was experimental with a pretest-post-test and control group. The statistical population of the study was the parents of mentally retarded children who were studying in Shiraz during the 1400-99 academic year and were matched based on age and level of education. The sample consisted of 30 parents with mentally retarded children who were selected by convenience sampling and randomly assigned into experimental (n = 15) and control (n = 15) groups. Also, the intervention was performed in eight sessions of 120 minutes (one session per week). Research data were collected using a psychological wellbeing and parental attitudes questionnaires and analyzed using multivariate and univariate analysis of covariance and SPSS-22.

The results showed that mindfulness-based life skills training had a significant effect on improving self-control, self-acceptance and having a goal. The results also showed that mindfulness-based life skills training had a significant effect on the dimensions of acceptance of love, despair and extreme support of parents of children with mild intellectual disabilities.

Considering the efficacy of mindfulness-based life skill training on parents’ attitudes and psychological wellbeing, it seems necessary to pay more attention to this factor in the research and education of families who have children with intellectual disabilities.