The effectiveness of cognitive therapy training based on mindfulness on the parent-child relationship and consensual custody of children in parents applying for an irreconcilable divorce

Divorce has many negative consequences and affects family relationships, including parent-child relationship and custody of children. As a result, the aim of this research was to determine the effectiveness of cognitive therapy training based on mindfulness on the parent-child relationship and consensual custody of children in parents applying for an irreconcilable divorce.

The present study was a semi-experimental study with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The research community was the parents of unreconciled divorce applicants who referred to counseling centers in Mashhad in the spring of 1400. A sample consisting of 20 couples was selected by purposive sampling method after reviewing the inclusion criteria and randomly replaced by lottery in two equal groups. The experimental group was trained in eight 90-minute sessions (one session per week) with cognitive therapy based on mindfulness, and the control group remained on the waiting list for training. The data were collected with the parent-child relationship scale and the researcher-made questionnaire of consensual custody of the children and were analyzed with chi-square, independent t-tests and multivariate covariance analysis in SPSS-22 software.

The findings showed that there was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of age, education and occupation (P>0.05). Also, there was a significant difference between the test and control groups in terms of both variables of parent-child relationship and consensual custody of children in parents applying for an irreconcilable divorce. In other words, the cognitive therapy training method based on mindfulness improved the parent-child relationship and consensual custody of children in parents applying for an unconsolidated divorce (P<0.001).

According to the results of the present study, it is necessary to plan to improve the health of the family, especially to improve the parent-child relationship and consensual custody of children. For this purpose, cognitive therapy based on mindfulness can be used along with other educational methods.