The Effectiveness of Psychological Immunization Program on Depression, Anxiety and Stress Reactions in Mothers of Children with Behavioral Disorder

Parents show different reactions at birth of their children, especially when children have a particular problem or disability such as a behavioral disorder. The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of psychological immunization programs on depression, anxiety and stress reactions in mothers of children with the behavioral disorders in Tehran city.

The present research was a quasi-experimental study by pre-test, post-test design with the control group. Thirty mothers have children with behavioral disorder were selected by random sampling methods from schools of Tehran city and after doing the pre-test they were divided into an experimental and a control group (each consists of 15 young couples) randomly and equally. The experimental group participated in a psychological immunization program in 10 sessions (two sessions weekly; each lasts for 45 minutes), while the control group did not. Depression anxiety stress scale (DASS-21) was used for the assessment of all participants. Data were analyzed by multiple analysis of covariance through SPSS version 23.

Results showed that experimental and control groups had a significant difference at depression, anxiety and stress reactions (P<0.05).

Therefore, planning for such training programs alike with the psychological immunization program has an important role on promoting depression, anxiety and stress reactions in mothers of children with behavioral disorders.