Background: Special care needs of mentally retarded children can affect the mental health of the mother. The purpose of this study was the efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) on reducing depression and increasing life expectancy of mothers with mentally retarded children. Methods: This study was a two group quasi-experimental plan with pre and post test. The population has formed mothers with mentally retarded children that are registered by welfare organization. Using cluster random sampling, 96 individuals were selected. They Completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II). Among them, 28 patients were selected that they had the highest depression scores. They assigned randomly in two groups (MBCT and control). The MBCT group received 9 sessions of Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Each session lasted 90 minutes. The control group did not receive any intervention. The subjects in both groups completed the BDI-II and life expectancy scale before and after intervention in MBCT group. Data were analyzed by ANOVA. Findings: Clients receiving MBCT compared to control group reported a significantly decrease in depression scores, and a significantly increase in improve in life expectancy scores at post treatment. Conclusion: Interventions based on mindfulness training can be effective in reducing depression and improving life expectancy of mothers with mentally retarded children. Therefore, apply MBCT programs at rehabilitation centers of welfare organization can be effective for prevention of distress of mothers with mentally retarded children.
Aim and Background : In recent decades, cancer has been considered by many as the most important cause of mortality in the world, with a large amount of studies in psychology. Theerfore, present study seeks out the effectiveness of positive psychology on pain catastrophizing and life expectancy of women with breast cancer. Methods and Materials: The present study was a quasi-experimental with pre-test and post-test design with control group and one-month follow-up period. The statistical population of this study included all women with breast cancer who referring to Isfahan Milad Hospital in spring 2015. Thirty of them were selected through available and targeted sampling method and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (each group was 15). Positive psychology interventions were performed on a test group for 8 sessions of 90 minutes, but not given to the control group. The tools used in this study were Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) and Hope Questionnaire (HQ). Data analysis was done using one-way ANOVA with repeated measures and using SPSS software version 20. Finding: The results of the training and follow up showed that positive psychology interventions had an effect on the life expectancy of women with breast cancer (p<0.05), but did not affect the pain catastrophizing (p>0.05). Conclusions: Based on the findings of this study, these interventions can increase the life expectancy of women with breast cancer and reflect new horizons in clinical interventions and can be used as effective interventions.
