Middle Eastern Journal of Disability Studies

Background & Objectives: Parents of children with Down syndrome may develop negative attitudes toward their children with some tunnel–vision–like effect. Without effective intervention, a vicious cycle and a complex series of events reinforcing through negative feedback loops may be formed. One of the most effective interventions in this area could be a therapeutic approach based on the positive psychology proposed by Seligman. Positive psychology aims to catalyze a shift from just repairing the worst things in life to building the best qualities in life. Positive psychology focuses on positive emotions and personal strengths and complements rather than replaces traditional psychotherapy. The effectiveness of positive interventions by positive feelings and positive cognitions and through expanding the range of momentary thought–action could help mothers of children with Down syndrome to attain some practical strategies. These strategies can empower them to accept their children's special needs. So, this study aimed to design a compassion–based positive education program for mothers with small children with Down syndrome and evaluate the program’s effectiveness in improving the mothers’ attitudes toward children with special needs.
Methods: The present research is a quasi–experimental study with pretest–posttest and a 3–month follow–up design with a control group. The study population comprised mothers of small children (less than two years old) with Down syndrome who lived in the Yazd Province, Iran, in November 2018. The sample includes 17 mothers who could communicate and were willing to participate in the study. They were identified by the State Welfare Organization of Yazd and gathered from three cities of Yazd, Meybod, and Ardakan. Finally, 14 mothers were selected and matched based on the level of education and age. Afterward, they were randomly divided into experimental and control groups (each group with 7 mothers). The inclusion criteria of mothers of children with Down syndrome in the study were as follows: not receiving psychological services and counseling while participating in the study, having at least a third–grade junior high school education, and lacking acute psychological problems. The exclusion criterion was the lack of consent to participate in the study. The research tool in the pretest, posttest, and follow–up for two groups was the Parental Attitudes Scale towards Children with Special Needs (Govender, 2002). The intervention program consisted of fourteen 75–min sessions of group compassion–based positive education program. In the end, the obtained data were analyzed using the independent samples t test, Chi–square, repeated measure ANOVA, and Bonferroni post hoc test in SPSS version 20, at the significance level of 0.05.
Results: The findings showed that the effect of time (p<0.001), group (p=0.043) and the time*group interaction (p=0.025) on the mothers' attitudes toward children with special needs were significant. In the experimental group, there were significant differences between pretest and posttest and between pretest and follow–up (p<0.001) regarding the mothers' attitudes. While in the control group, no significant differences were observed (p>0.05) between the three stages of measurement regarding the mothers’ attitudes. Also in the experimental group, the mean scores of mothers' attitudes toward children with special needs in the follow–up stage (84.142±3.760) were higher than that in the posttest stage (83.857±3.184), showing the stability of the intervention effect in the follow–up stage.
Conclusion: According to the research findings, the compassion–based positive education program is effective in improving mothers' attitudes toward children with special needs, and this program can be used for mothers and help them accept their children with disabilities.