Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Resilience and Meaning in Life among Mothers of Children with Epilepsy: A Pilot Study

Epilepsy is one of the most common chronic neurological disorders in children, and caring for children with epilepsy is very challenging and stressful. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy on resilience and meaning of life among mothers with children with epilepsy.

This semi-experimental study with a pre-test-post-test design and a control group with a two-month follow-up period was conducted with the participation of 32 mothers of children with epilepsy who referred to the Porsina, a teaching hospital, in Rasht city in 2022. Sampling was done by available sampling method. The participants were randomly assigned to two groups of cognitive behavioral therapy and control group (16 mother in each group). For the intervention group, Beck cognitive behavioral therapy was implemented for 10 sessions. The data were collected using the Conner & Davidson Resilience, and the Steger Meaning in Life Questionnaires. Data were analyzed using repeated covariance analysis test and SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 26.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Ill., USA).

In the intervention group, the mean (SD) of resilience increased from 42.8 (8.3) in the pre-test to 64.3 (5.1) in the post-test and 63.9 (3.6) in the follow-up. (P<0.001). Also the meaning of life increased from 32.3 (2.3) in the pre-test to 54.3 (1.8) in the post-test, and 55.5 (1.8) in the follow-up (P<0.001). No significant change was observed in the control group.

This study showed that cognitive behavioral therapy has been effective in increasing resilience and meaning in life of mothers of children with epilepsy.