The effect of acceptance and commitment therapy-based interventions applied to parents with special needs children on psychological resilience depression anxiety stress levels and care burden

Objective: This study was carried out to reveal the effect of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-based interventions on the psychological resilience, psychological consistency, anxiety, depression, stress and care burden levels of parents with special needs children. Method: This research is a pretest, posttest, follow-up, randomized controlled experimental study. The research was carried out in Şehitkamil and Şahinbey districts of Gaziantep Province. 60 parents with special needs children were included in the study. The initiatives were completed between April and December 2019. The research data was collected in three stages as pretest, posttest and follow-up test. After the pre-test data was collected, the ACT- based intervention program was applied to the intervention group consisting of six sessions. The session lasted on average 60 minutes with individual interviews. A session was held for each parent once a week. At the end of the sessions, post-test and follow-up tests were performed three months later. Parents in the control group only participated in the routine education program held at the school. After school education; post-test, follow-up tests were performed three months later. Results: According to the control group the ACT-based intervention program applied to intervention group is effective and; psychological resilience levels increased (pretest: 52.77±6.56; follow-up test: 79.50±4.93, depression anxiety stress (pretest: 50.2±14.63; follow-up test: 15.87±4.80), psychological consistency (pretest: 40.33±6.06; follow-up test: 12.2±2.22) and care burden levels (pretest: 49.97±8.02, follow-up test: 20.1±5.24) decreased significantly (p<.05). No significant difference was observed in the control group. Conclusion: It was concluded that; Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-based interventions applied to parents with special needs children have effect on increased psychological resilience and flexibility; decrease anxiety, depression, stress and care burden levels. It is recommended to use the initiatives to strengthen and support parents.