The effect of mindfulness-based compassion education on self-criticism and anxiety of mothers of children with phenylketonuria (PKU)

Having a child with special needs in a family is a kind of crisis and their parents suffer a lot of stress. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of mindfulness-based compassion education on self-criticism and anxiety of mothers with children with phenylketonuria. The research method is quasi-experimental with pre-test-post-test design with control group. 24 mothers with children with PKU in Qazvin in 2021 were purposefully selected according to the inclusion criteria and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group received 9 training sessions and the control group did not receive training. In order to collect data, the self-critical questionnaire (2004) and the Beck Anxiety Questionnaire (1998) were used. Univariate analysis of covariance and multivariate analysis of covariance were used to analyze the data. The results showed that mindfulness-based compassion education had a significant effect on mothers 'self-criticism and anxiety (p <0.01) and led to a reduction in mothers' self-criticism and anxiety. The results of the study have practical implications and can be used as a treatment method in reducing anxiety and self-criticism of mothers of PKU children.