Shenakht Journal of Psychology & Psychiatry

Introduction: Caring for a disabled child can have numerous psychological and social consequences for parents.
Aim: The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of compassion-based parenting and parenting based on acceptance and commitment on post-traumatic growth in mothers of children with physical-mental disabilities.
Method: This study employed a quasi-experimental design with a pretest–posttest–follow-up structure and a control group. The study population consisted of students enrolled at the Imam Javad Educational Center for Children with Special Needs in Sari in 2022. From this population, 45 children were selected, and their mothers were randomly assigned to one of three groups: compassion-based parenting, acceptance and commitment-based parenting, or control. Participants completed the Post-Traumatic Growth Questionnaire, and data were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance.
Results: The findings indicated that the effects of time (F = 21.61), group (F = 13.48), and the interaction between group and time (F = 7.82) on post-traumatic growth were statistically significant at the p < 0.001 level. Post hoc comparisons further revealed that post-traumatic growth scores at both the posttest and follow-up assessments were significantly higher than those at the pretest (p < 0.001).
Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that post-traumatic growth in mothers of children with physical and mental disabilities can be enhanced through compassion-based parenting and acceptance and commitment-based parenting. These approaches may therefore be valuable components of intervention programs designed for families of children with disabilities.