Effect of a Self-Management Empowerment Program on Anger and Social Isolation of Mothers of Children with Cerebral Palsy: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common chronic motor disability, which can have negative impacts on social behavior of mothers as the primary caregivers.
Aim: To investigate the effect of an intervention program based on the self-management empowerment model on the anger and social isolation of mothers with CP children.
This randomized controlled clinical trial was performed on 72 mothers of CP in Bushehr and Shiraz, Iran, 2015. We employed Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire and the UCLA Loneliness Scale for data collection. The intervention group received self-management empowerment in five steps and two face-to-face sessions and was followed up regularly for 1.5 months. Thereafter, anger and social isolation of both groups were reexamined. Data analysis was performed using the Chi-square test, independent t-test, paired t-test, and Mann-Whitney test in SPSS, version 18.
The mean ages of the intervention and control groups were respectively 28.1±6.09 and 28.1±5.8 years, which independent t-test showed to be homogenous (P=0.31). Before the intervention, there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of aggression (P=0.58) and loneliness scores (P=0.93); however, after the intervention, independent t-test reflected significant inter-group differences in terms of both scores (PImplications for Practice: The designed empowerment program could reduce the anger of mothers of CP children and serve as a framework for empowering these mothers in healthcare and rehabilitation centers. The efficacy of the program in alleviating the social isolation of these mothers requires further research.