The effect of communication skills training on family adaptability / cohesion and coping strategies in parents of female students with learning disabilities

The present study examined the effect of communication skills training on family adaptability/cohesion and coping strategies in parents of female students with learning disabilities. The current research method was a pre-test-post-test experiment with a control group. The statistical population of this research included all parents of female students of the first period of high school with learning disabilities in the academic year of 2022-2023 in Ardabil city. For this purpose, the 30 parents of students with learning disabilities, according to the criteria of entering the research, were selected by the purposeful sampling method and randomly replaced in two experimental and control groups (15 people in each group). After conducting the pre-test using the Olson, Roussel, and Sprinkle family adaptability/cohesion assessment scale and the Billings and Moss coping strategies questionnaire, the experimental group received eight sessions (two sessions per week) of 75 minutes of the communication skills training program. At the same time, the control group did not receive any intervention program. The data were analyzed using SPSS.26 software and multivariate covariance analysis method. The results showed that communication skills training caused a significant difference between family adaptability/cohesion and coping strategies in parents of female students with learning disabilities. In other words, the effect of communication skills training in the experimental group has increased family adaptability/cohesion and coping strategies in parents of students with learning disabilities (P≤0.05). Therefore, it can be said that this application can be used to help parents and female students with learning disabilities