The effect of happiness training on self‑esteem in the mothers of children with cleft lip and palate in Isfahan 2015

Birth of a child with cleft lip and palate, as a crisis, can affect family relationships and interactions seriously and hence self‑esteem in family members. The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of a happiness training program on self‑esteem in the mothers of children with cleft lip and palate.

In this quasi‑experimental study, 64 mothers of children with cleft lip and palate referring to health‑care team in the Isfahan University Medical Sciences were enrolled by convenience random sampling. Then, the program of happiness training was implemented within 10 sessions, and a questionnaire of demographic characteristics and Coopersmith Self‑Esteem Inventory was filled out before and 2 months after the last session. The data were analyzed by descriptive and analytical statistics (paired t‑test, independent t‑test, Chi‑square, and Mann–Whitney) in SPSS 20 (SPSS Inc: Chicago),

The mean age of the mothers in intervention and control groups was 33.3 ± 6.3 and 33.5 ± 5.8 years, respectively. The mean age of the children in the intervention and control groups was 6.34 ± 3.37 and 5.03 ± 3.36 years. Independent t‑test indicated a significant difference in self‑esteem mean score after training in the intervention and control groups. Moreover, paired t‑test indicated a significant difference in self‑esteem mean score between before and after training in the intervention group.

In the light of the effect of happiness training on the promotion of self‑esteem in children with cleft lip and palate, this program can be used as a care intervention to reduce psychological and mental problems and to enhance adjustment in parents.