The Effectiveness of Emotion-Communication Skills Training on Cognitive Emotion Regulation, Parental Self-Efficacy and Child Acceptance in Mothers of Children with Learning Disabilities

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of emotional communication skills training on emotion regulation, parental self-efficacy and child acceptance in mothers of children with special learning disabilities. The statistical population of this study consisted of all mothers of students with special learning disabilities. Sampling method was accessible in that the participants were selected from mothers of children with learning disabilities who referred to clinics under the supervision of education in Shiraz. Of the 32 selected participants, 15 were assigned to the experimental group and 17 to the control group, randomly. After the pretest, the experimental group was trained in emotional communication skills in ten sessions, while the control group did not receive any specific intervention. Then, post-test was performed for both groups. Garnefski Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ), Dumka Parental Self Agency Measure (PSAM) and Parental Acceptance Questionnaire (PAQ) were used to collect data. The results indicated that the experimental and control groups had significant differences in the variables of cognitive emotion regulation, parental self-efficacy and parental acceptance. In general, the findings supported the effectiveness of emotional-communication regulation skills training on parental characteristics and personality of parents.