Effectiveness of Behavioral Activation on Social Avoidance of Mothers of Children with Cerebral Palsy

Mothers are more responsible for raising their children, and they are usually the main caregivers of disabled children. The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of behavioral activation therapy on social avoidance in mothers of children with cerebral palsy.

This study with a quasi-experimental research design had a pre-test, post-test, and a control group. The research sample consisted of 40 mothers referred to Occupational Therapy Centers in Ilam, Iran, in 2021. Then, they were randomly assigned into an experimental group (n=20) and a control group (n=20). The experimental group received behavioral activation group therapy based on the protocol provided by Kanter, Bush, and Rush during eight 90-minute sessions in one group session per week[S1]. Information was collected using a social phobia questionnaire (SPI) by Connor et al. (2000) in two stages of pre- and post-interventions. Covariance analysis and SPSS software (version 27) were used for data analysis.

Based on the obtained results, at the end of the treatment, the social avoidance scores of the intervention group were significantly reduced compared to the control group (P<0.05).

The study showed that behavioral activation therapy has a favorable effect on reducing the severity of symptoms of social avoidance disorder in mothers of children with cerebral palsy. Therefore, this treatment is suggested as a complementary treatment along with drug treatments to improve psychological symptoms in these people.