The Effectiveness of Solution-Focused Narrative Therapy (SFNT) and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) on the Level of Expressed Emotion in Mothers of Male Children with Gross Motor Disabilities

Background: Mothers with disabled children express emotions, such as aggression and criticism towards their children. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of solution-focused narrative therapy (SFNT) and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on the expressed emotion of mothers of male children with gross motor disabilities. Methods: This quasi-experimental pretest and posttest study was conducted with intervention and control groups. The research population consisted of all the mothers of children with gross motor disabilities referred to the Success Counseling Center in Tehran in 2022. A total of 45 eligible mothers were selected and randomly assigned to three groups (two intervention groups (each 15) and a control group (15)). The SFNT was held in nine sessions (90 minutes) and the MBSR therapy was held in eighth sessions (90 minutes). The data were collected with the Level of Expressed Emotion (LEE) Scale and analyzed using descriptive statistics, such as frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation and the multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) and LSD post hoc test in SPSS-26 software. The significance level was set at P< 0.05. Results: The results showed that in the posttest stage, there was a statistically significant difference between the average scores of expressed emotion in the three groups (P<0.05). However, compared to mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), solution-focused narrative therapy (SFNT) had a greater effect on reducing negative expressed emotion in the participants (P<0.05). Conclusion: The results showed that both therapies are effective in reducing expressed negative emotions in mothers with disabled male children. However, SFNT had a greater effect on expressed emotion compared to MBSR.  In addition to pharmacological treatments, psychological interventions (SFNT and MBSR) can help mothers of male children with gross motor disabilities to control their expressed emotions and take better care of their children.