Effect of compassion‐focused group therapy on psychological symptoms in mothers of attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder children: A pilot study

Abstract

Background Evidence suggests that attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may accentuate varying psychological symptoms in parents. Since mothers are the most likely individuals interacting with ADHD children, it is highly probable that they will be influenced the most. Objectives This pilot study aimed to determine the effect of compassion‐focused group therapy on psychological symptoms of mothers of ADHD children. Methods A pre‐test–post‐test control‐grouped, quasi‐experimental study was carried out on a sample of 20 mothers of children with ADHD who were referred to the Health Centers of Isfahan City in Spring 2017. Prior to the intervention, the mothers’ psychological symptoms were recorded in both groups using the DASS‐21 questionnaire. Then, the mothers (n = 10) in the treatment group underwent 8 weekly sessions of 90‐min, compassion‐focused therapy. Both groups were post‐tested 1 week after the intervention. Finally, the collected data were analysed in SPSS‐23. Results The results of the study showed that, after the intervention, the mothers’ psychological symptoms in the treatment group significantly decreased (pre‐test: 36.10 ± 7.96 vs. post‐test: 33.40 ± 4.28, p value < 0.05), while no significant change was observed in the control group. Depression and anxiety levels showed a significant decrease in the treatment group as compared to the control group (p value < 0.05), while participants’ stress levels remained the same in both groups (p value > 0.05). Conclusion The findings revealed that compassion‐focused therapy resulted in an increase in self‐compassion and inner calmness levels, and a decrease in the use of avoidance coping strategy on the one hand, and the need to regulate emotions and ruminations on the other hand, among the mothers of ADHD children, which subsequently led to a decrease in psychological symptoms.

Effects of Self-Compassion Interventions on Reducing Depressive Symptoms, Anxiety, and Stress: A Meta-Analysis

“…Self-compassion interventions were delivered as in-person interventions in 28 studies; of these, 24 studies included group-based interventions (Anuwatgasem et al, 2020 ; Arimitsu, 2016 ; Bluth et al, 2016 ; Boggiss et al, 2020 ; Collado‐Navarro et al, 2021 ; D'Alton et al, 2019 ; DeTore et al, 2022 ; Dundas et al, 2017 ; Friis et al, 2016 ; Haukaas et al, 2018 ; Huang et al, 2021 ; Martínez-Borrás et al, 2022 ; Matos et al, 2022 ; Neff & Germer, 2013 ; Noorbala et al, 2013 ; Sajjadi et al, 2022 ; Savari et al, 2021 ; Schuling et al, 2020 ; Shahar et al, 2015 ; Torrijos‐Zarcero et al, 2021 ; Weibel et al, 2017 ; Woodfin et al, 2021 ; Yadavaia et al, 2014 ; Zheng et al, 2022 ) and one study delivered interventions individually (Javidi et al, 2023 ). Three studies did not describe whether the interventions were delivered individually or as group-based interventions (Beaumont et al, 2012 ; Carlyle et al, 2019 ; Navab et al, 2019 ). A total of 23 studies involved self-compassion interventions administered online; 20 of these included interventions that ran in a web browser (Beshai et al, 2020 ; Cândea & Szentágotai-Tătar, 2018 ; Eriksson et al, 2018 ; Fernandes et al, 2022 ; Gammer et al, 2020 ; Guo et al, 2020 ; Hasselberg & Rönnlund, 2020 ; Kelly & Carter, 2015 ; Kelly et al, 2009 ; Kelman et al, 2018 ; Krieger et al, 2019 ; Lennard et al, 2021 ; Mifsud et al, 2021 ; Nadeau et al, 2021 ; Preuss et al, 2021 ; Shapira & Mongrain, 2010 ; Stevenson et al, 2019 ; Teale Sapach et al, 2023 ; Urken & LeCroy, 2021 ; Wong & Mak, 2016 ) and three studies admini...…”

“…The average percentage of female participants was 77.8% ( SD = 19.4), ranging from 0 to 100%. A total of 11 studies involved female participants only (Fernandes et al, 2022 ; Gammer et al, 2020 ; Guo et al, 2020 ; Kelman et al, 2018 ; Lennard et al, 2021 ; Mifsud et al, 2021 ; Nadeau et al, 2021 ; Navab et al, 2019 ; Noorbala et al, 2013 ; Savari et al, 2021 ; Seekis et al, 2020 ) while one study involved male participants only (Held & Owens, 2015 ). Of the 56 studies, 20 studies directly targeted people who reported psychological distress symptoms, such as depressive symptoms, anxiety, and stress (Anuwatgasem et al, 2020 ; Beshai et al, 2020 ; Bluth et al, 2016 ; Cândea & Szentágotai-Tătar, 2018 ; Collado‐Navarro et al, 2021 ; DeTore et al, 2022 ; Fernandes et al, 2022 ; Guo et al, 2020 ; Javidi et al, 2021 ; Kelly et al, 2009 ; Noorbala et al, 2013 ; Preuss et al, 2021 ; Savari et al, 2021 ; Schuling et al, 2020 ; Shapira & Mongrain, 2010 ; Stevenson et al, 2019 ; Teale Sapach et al, 2023 ; Torrijos‐Zarcero et al, 2021 ; Urken & LeCroy, 2021 ; Yadavaia et al, 2014 ).…”

Self-compassion and Perceived Criticism in Adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

“…Thus, self-compassion is an important trait to explore in populations, such as those with ADHD, who have poor mental health and more frequent negative experiences than typical, which may require higher levels of resilience. Accordingly, interest in self-compassion and ADHD together has started to gain attention-with researchers investigating self-compassion in parents of children with ADHD (Navab et al 2019), and changes in self-compassion following mindfulness interventions in adults with ADHD (Janssen et al 2019).…”

Theory Paper: Suggesting Compassion-Based Approaches for Treating Complex Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

“…Additional research shows significant improvements in outcome measures across domains of anxiety (Gharraee et al, 2018;Navab et al, 2019;Noorbala et al, 2013;Sommers-Spijkerman et al, 2018), substance abuse disorder (Carlyle et al, 2019) and eating disorders (Duarte et al, 2017). The available evidence suggests that CFT may be a suitable treatment to address the range of complex symptoms in the emotional stabilisation phase.…”