The Effectiveness of Compassion-Focused Therapy Method on Social Support, Hope Levels, and Caregiver Burden in Mothers of Children with Down Syndrome

Abstract

Background: The use of appropriate non-pharmacological therapies can help improve the mental health and increase emotional resilience of mothers of children with Down syndrome (DNS). Objectives: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of compassion-focused therapy (CFT) on social support, hope level, and caregiving burden of mothers of children with DNS. Methods: The present study was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up design, conducted by two groups (experimental and control). The sample size was determined to be 30, and 15 people were selected for each study group by simple random sampling. The CFT program was held for the experimental group during eight one-and-a-half hour sessions, and the sessions were held weekly. After the sessions were completed, information related to the variables of social support, hope, and caregiving distress was collected using relevant questionnaires. Pre-test, post-test, and follow-up were conducted for both experimental and control groups. Finally, after collecting the raw findings, SPSS.ver.22 software was used for descriptive expression and statistical analysis. Results: The findings showed that the mean scores of social support and hope in the post-test and follow-up stages for the CFT group were significantly higher than those of the control group. In addition, the mean score of caregiving distress in the post-test and follow-up stages for the CFT group was significantly lower than that of the control group. Conclusions: The findings show that the CFT method has a positive effect on social support, hope, and caregiving distress of mothers with DNS children. Therefore, it can be concluded that the CFT method can help improve the psychological state of mothers with DNS children.