The Effectiveness of Reality Therapy on Psychological Capital and Mental Health of Mentally Retarded Children's Mothers

Taking care of a mentally retarded child can be stressful. In particular, mothers of children with intellectual disabilities experience poorer physical health, social relationships, and mental well-being compared to parents of typically developing children. This research aims to examine the impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on the psychological well-being and mental health of mothers with mentally disabled children.

The research was applied with a specific purpose and executed experimentally, using both an experimental group and a control group, as well as pre-test and post-test measures. The statistical population included all mothers with mentally disabled children who were attending exceptional schools and rehabilitation institutions in Qom. Among them, 26 individuals who met the entry criteria were randomly selected as the research sample and divided into two groups, each consisting of 13 people. The experimental group received eight 60-minute sessions of cognitive-behavioral therapy. During this period, the control group was placed on the waiting list and did not receive any intervention. To collect data, the Revised Inventory of Psychological Symptoms (SCL90-R) by Derogatis et al. (1984) and the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ) by Luthans et al. (2007) were used. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS software, employing a multivariate analysis of the covariance test.

The study revealed a significant difference between the average pre-test and post-test scores of the experimental and control groups in the areas of psychological capital and mental health variables (p<0.0001). This indicates that cognitive-behavioral therapy resulted in improved mental health and enhanced psychological capital in the experimental group.

Based on this, cognitive-behavioral therapy can be considered a suitable, reliable, and effective model for preventing psychological problems and enhancing the psychological well-being of mothers with mentally challenged children.