Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on the Mental Health and Rumination of Mothers of Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Acceptance and commitment therapy is one of the third generation behavioral therapies in the field of mental health. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on mental health and rumination of mothers of children with neurodevelopmental disorders. The statistical population included all mothers with children with special needs in Hamadan city. In a semi-experimental design, 14 participants were randomly selected from patients and randomly divided into 2 intervention and control groups. Psychological evaluation included an interview with a clinical psychologist and the completion of Beck's anxiety and depression questionnaires and rumination response scale. The indices of mental health and rumination were collected at three points before the intervention sessions, after the intervention and 3 weeks after the end of the sessions. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and mixed variance analysis test. The findings showed that the indicators of mental health (anxiety, depression) and rumination decreased significantly after the intervention in the way of acceptance and commitment and in the follow-up period. Therefore, acceptance and commitment therapy has been effective in treating anxiety, depression and rumination in mothers of children with children with neurodevelopmental disorders. The results emphasize the importance of using these interventions in the mental health and rumination of mothers of children with effective neurodevelopmental disorders and providing a new horizon in the clinical interventions of patients.