Effectiveness of group stress management training on affective control and distress tolerance of mothers of children with sensory-motor disabilities

Background: The aim of present study was to determine the influence of stress management on affective control and distress tolerance in mothers of children with sensory-motor disabilities. Methods: This current study was a study with pretest-posttest and treatment group. The thirty mothers of children with sensory-motor disabilities were selected from sensory-motor disabilities center in Qum by 2015. The participants were randomly divided into control (n=15) and experimental (n=15) groups. Stress management training was conducted on experimental group during 8 sessions (90 minutes, twice per week). The research instrument was Affective Control Scale (ACS, 1997) and Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS, 2005). Participants were taken pre-test measures one week prior to the start of this training. Then the questionnaire was administered at post-test. Statistical analysis was performed using analysis of variance. Results: The results indicated that there was a significant difference between the pretest and post-test scores in distress tolerance (&plusmn;SD: 30.2&plusmn;8.1, 33&plusmn;9.3; F= 7.58) anxiety (&plusmn;SD:40.5&plusmn; 9.2, 44&plusmn;8; F=1.79), anger (SD:&plusmn;25.4&plusmn;4.1, 39.4&plusmn;5.6; F=1.03), and depressed mood (SD&plusmn; 27.7&plusmn; 5.3, 38.6&plusmn; 7.4; F=1.70) in the experimental group (p<0.05). Additionally, the significant difference was not observed between score of pretest and posttest in positive emotion (SD&plusmn; 41.7&plusmn;9.9, 39&plusmn;7.48; F=1.08) in the experimental group (p<0.05). Conclusions: The finding emphasized that the stress management reduced the level of distress tolerance, stress, anxiety, and anger in mothers with sensory-motor disability children. Hence, it can be considered enhancing the affective control in mothers of sensory-motor disability children in therapeutic intervention.