The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training on Emotional Schemas Mothers of Children With Cerebral Palsy

Objective Mothers of children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) are susceptible to emotional problems like stress, anxiety, and depression which can lead to emotional schemas like rumination, not expressing emotions, lack of values, and feeling guilty. These negative beliefs about emotions cause ineffective thoughts and inappropriate behavior patterns that affect the mental health of the mothers. In this case, interventions such as mindfulness education can be effective in reducing their maladaptive emotional schemas by adjusting attention, developing metacognitive awareness, decentralizing, and accepting their mental contents. This study aims to investigate the efficacy of mindfulness training in decreasing emotional schemas (rumination, not expressing emotions, lack of values and feeling guilty) in mothers with children with CP. Materials & Methods The present study is quasi-experiment with pretest-posttest and control group. The statistical population consists of all the mothers with CP children referring to the rehabilitation center of Mashhad City. The study sample consisted of 20 volunteers who were selected based on the results of their pretest and study criteria. They were selected and randomly put into control and experimental groups. The inclusion criteria included having at least a guidance education level to do better teaching assignments and having a child with CP whose severity of disorder was moderate or severe on the basis of a doctor's diagnosis. The study instrument was Leahy Emotional Schema Scale (LESS) which was answered by mothers in the control and experimental groups before the intervention. The participants in the experimental group received “Mindfulness Awareness” group intervention in eight 90-minute sessions for two months and the control group didn’t receive any treatment. Results The data were analyzed through Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and t-test. The findings indicate that mindfulness training for mothers in the experimental group leads to a decrease in schemas like rumination (t=2.57; P<0.05), not expressing emotions (t=8.87; P<0.05) and feeling guilty (t=2.4; P<0.05), but it doesn’t have a significant effect on the lack of values (F=2.73; P>0.05). Conclusion Mindfulness can improve emotional schemas in mothers who have children with CP through raising awareness and concentration as effective training. Mindfulness education provides a model for reducing rumination and educates mothers to be aware of their mood fluctuations and to use mind-alert techniques to understand the information processing that makes emotions keep obsessing. Increasing calmness and consciousness along with a kind-hearted behavior creates curiosity and satisfaction at the present, which results in decreased rumination. The higher values in mothers are unchangeable beliefs, which are the function of culture and are unique to each individual. Therefore, the resistance derived from beliefs as a result of the education of mindfulness has a negative effect on the concept of higher-value inferiority. In sitting meditation, one can allow herself to express excitement with mercilessness and curiosity. Then he or she will be conscious of the gesture and state of the face and adapting it to its current state, and express her or his emotions and physical feelings without suppression and change. Feeling self-compassion in the mind of consciousness accepts the suffering of sin as part of life and leads to motivating the individual to reduce pain and suffering and feelings of guilt.