Managing Parenting Stress through Life Skills Training: A Supportive Intervention for Mothers with Visually Impaired Children

BACKGROUND Vision impairment in children is one of the most severe disabilities that cause stress in parents. Therefore, it seems necessary to establish and conduct interventions for controlling parenting stress and preventing its negative consequences. This study aimed to investigate the effect of life skills training (LST) program on parenting stress of mothers with blind children aged 7 to 12 years. METHODS This study was a non-blinded randomized controlled trial. 52 mothers with blind children studying at Shoorideh Shirazi educational complex, Shiraz, Iran in 2013 were enrolled, using census sampling method. Balanced block randomization method was used to allocate the participants to groups. The intervention group participated in an LST program consisting of 5 two-hour sessions per week for 5 consecutive weeks but the control group didn't. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire and Parenting Stress Index; they were completed three times by the participants of both groups before, immediately after, and one month after the intervention. Collected data were analyzed using Chi-square, independent t-test and repeated measures analysis of variances (ANOVA). RESULTS The LST program could decrease parenting stress in the intervention group mothers (P<0/001). This statistically significant reduction in the mean scores of parenting stress was observed in both children and parents. CONCLUSION LST program could reduce parenting stress in mothers with blind children. Therefore, it can be used as an efficient, cost-effective and simple technique for managing parenting stress in such parents. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER IRCT201405147531N6.