The effectiveness of group cognitive-behavioral training on reducing psychological problems and irrational beliefs of mothers of children with intellectual disability

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of group cognitive-behavioral training in reducing the psychological problems and irrational beliefs of mothers of children with intellectual disabilities. One of the experiences for each family is the management of a child with a disability or chronic illness. Among the developmental disabilities, intellectual disability is the most common psychiatric disorder in children and adolescents. The birth and presence of a child with an intellectual disability in any family can be considered as an undesirable and challenging event that can lead to stress, frustration, sadness, and despair. Excessive roles that are imposed on the parents due to the birth of a child with disability create a lot of stress for them. Mothers can be at increased risk of these problems, placing them at great risk of mental disorders compared to mothers of normal children. On the other hand, researchers find that many of the problems of mothers with children with intellectual disabilities are the result of their irrational beliefs. Irrational beliefs are negative thoughts that dominate the individual's mind and are a determinant factor in how to interpret events and regulate the quality and quantity of behaviors and emotions. The irrational beliefs of these mothers have an effect on their behavior and cognitive dissonance and can change their interaction with their children.
The present study is of the applied type regarding purpose. The research method was quasi-experimental, with a pretest, posttest, and a control group. The population of this study included all mothers of children with severe intellectual disabilities under the auspices of Abarkouh Welfare organization. Purposeful sampling was used to select the subjects. After clinical interviews, 40 mothers of children with severe intellectual disabilities who had low psychological health were selected and randomly divided into two groups of experimental and control (20 in each group). In the pretest, Goldberg General Health Questionnaire and Jones irrational belief's questionnaire were performed individually on the two groups of experimental and control. Reliability and validity of the Goldberg General Health Questionnaire using Cronbach's alpha and the coefficient of internal consistency of the questionnaire were 0.90 and 0.88, respectively. Reliability and validity of Jones irrational belief's questionnaire using Cronbach's alpha coefficient and internal consistency validity were 0.88 and 0.87, respectively. Therefore, the questionnaires used in the research had acceptable reliability and validity. The experimental group participated in cognitive–behavioral training sessions 2 times per week for 8 weeks. Control group was placed on the waiting list for receiving training. After the end of the training sessions, both the experimental and control groups completed the Goldberg General Health Questionnaire and Jones's irrational beliefs again. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and ANOVA by SPSS software.
The results of covariance analysis showed that participants in the experimental group of cognitive behavior training had significantly lower scores on psychological problems and irrational beliefs than the control group in the posttest (P With the help of group cognitive-behavioral training, mothers of children with intellectual disability can benefit from their abilities and become more resistant to life stresses which ultimately leads to increased psychological health and reduction of their irrational beliefs.